Barfly Broad. Dirty Dame. Lethal Lady. Lot Lizard. Madam Moocher. All of those alliterative monikers have been bestowed upon the alliteratively named Hazel Head. For thirty-three years, police and the FBI having been trying to replace her alliterative status of wanted woman to that of woman behind bars.

In 1991, Head fled Lincoln, Nebraska, after she was charged with burning down her former boyfriend’s mobile home. Seven years later, she is believed to have shot another boyfriend to death in his mobile home and abscond with his money.

One more alliterative label can be bestowed on Hazel Head; she has proven to be Street Smart. The wandering woman’s nomadic lifestyle has enabled her to stay ahead of the law for over three decades. An investigator describes the vagabond as “nearly impossible to track.”

Despite the passage of so much time and her roving ways, however, the FBI remains optimistic it will ultimately, pardon the expression,  . . . get Head.

 

Hazel Head

Charles Barker was devastated when his wife of ten years was killed by a drunk driver. After a couple of months of mourning, however, he again began doing the things he enjoyed such as hunting, fishing, and traveling. When the sixty-nine-year-old retired Benton, Louisiana, truck driver received a large insurance settlement from his wife’s death, he decided to use the money for a little fun. He began frequenting area casinos where he would forget about life for a while.

Charles Barker was coming out of his shell, but he was still lacking one thing which he desired: companionship. He was ecstatic when a bubbly younger woman engaged him in conversation at the Red River Casino in Bossier City, one-hundred-eighty miles east of Dallas, Texas.

Charles Barker

The woman introduced herself as Deianna Ray, but she was really Hazel Head, wanted in Nebraska for the arson seven years earlier. She had caught the eye of Charles Barker. The lonely and vulnerable widower had also caught Hazel’s eye; the large amounts of cash he flaunted at the casino had turned Hazel’s literal head.

Hazel Head, alias Deianna Ray, had latched onto her next prey.

Head Eyes Her Game

The encounter at the casino led to a whirlwind romance and Hazel Head, alias Deianna Ray, moved into Charles Barker’s trailer. After living together for only a couple of months, Charles confided in his two daughters that he and his new flame were having problems, but he did not elaborate.

In August 1998, Charles’ daughter, Jennifer Spoonts, grew concerned after being unable to reach her father for over a week. Jennifer lived nine hours away in Austin, Texas, and asked her Aunt June, Charles’ sister, who lived in the area, to check on him.

When June and her husband arrived at Charles’ home on September 2, they found him slumped over the kitchen bar with dried blood on the back of his head. Police believe he had been shot while reading the newspaper, and that he had been dead for at least five days. No signs of a struggle were found in the home, leading investigators to believe he probably had not seen the attack coming and had no chance to react.

Ballistic tests determined the shot came from Charles Barker’s own gun, which he kept in a safe in his bedroom. Police found the safe open and all of the money, believed to be approximately $45,000, missing.

Shot to Death

Also missing was Deianna Ray, whom police soon identified as Hazel Head. She had operated several scams across the country of befriending men then swindling them. This was the first instance, however, in which Head is believed to have put a bullet in one of her lovers’ head.

The following day, Charles’ car was found near the Shreveport airport, fifteen miles from his home. Inside, investigators found pieces of clothing belonging to Hazel Head, as well as physical evidence, including DNA, linking her to the car.

Hazel Head was charged with first-degree murder, but she had nearly a week’s head start to disappear.

Boyfriend Dead:   

Head Fled

Hazel Head is a known “Lot Lizard”, who lounges at truck stops in search of her male victims. She has robbed large amounts of money from several men and has likely committed other scams which have not been reported due to victim embarrassment. In addition, because most truck companies have policies against picking up hitchhikers, police believe many truckers have been reluctant to report giving her rides.

Over the years, sightings of Head have been reported in the forty-eight contiguous states. The last confirmed sighting of her was in December, 1998, at a truck stop near Wheat Ridge, Colorado, where she applied for a job as a waitress. She was not hired, but she did get out town before authorities could nab her.

For many years, Head was believed to be prostituting herself for rides and money, but with the passage of so many years, the practice may no longer be as lucrative.

Investigators have never been able to locate a domiciled address for the fugitive, and it is possible she has not had one in her adult life.

A Lethal Lot Lizard

Hazel Head frequently used personal ads in newspapers to lure her male victims. One example is shown below.

I could not find anything regarding how computer savvy she is and if she is believed to have transitioned to online dating websites.

One of Hazel Head’s Ads

Hazel Leota Head is wanted on charges of first degree murder and arson. At the time she fled Louisiana in 1998, she was five-feet-two-inches tall and weighed approximately one-hundred-twenty pounds. Her hair was reddish blonde and eyes were, fittingly, green/hazel. She had a scar near her right eye. She likes to gamble, frequent casinos, and is a heavy smoker and drinker. Her beverage of choice is vodka. With that lifestyle, it seems plausible that Hazel is now a Dead Head, but authorities have no evidence suggesting so.

Head is believed to have married at least ten times and has used at least twenty different aliases, most of which involve using one or two of her first, middle, or last names.

Now seventy-three-years-old, Hazel Head is still singing hooray as she remains in hiding. Authorities hope the time is a comin’ when they’ll be able to say . . . they got Head.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Hazel Head, please contact your nearest FBI office or the Benton, Louisiana, Police Department at 318-965-0579.

A Wanted Woman

Charles Barker’s daughter, Cindy Barker Jefferson, is a member of my Facebook group. She believes another person aided Hazel Head in the murder of her father and that this person was not thoroughly investigated by the police.

Cindy also says she was told that Head, using an alias, was arrested in Oregon for public intoxication approximately twelve years ago but was released before the police learned her true identity.

Did Head Have An Accomplice?

SOURCES:

• America’s Most Wanted
• FBI
• FOX News
• Overdrive Magazine
• Shreveport Times
• Unsolved Mysteries