Barb Windemere is a resident of New York City and known con artist.
She claimed to be the foster mother of Erica Windemere, who was allegedly ill with ALS and had been raped numerous times by drug gangs. She arranged for the publication of Through the Darkness with Christine Wilkes, which was attributed to Erica. The profits of the book were supposedly going to her health care expenses, because she had no source of income.
She resisted all attempts by others to meet Erica in person, claiming that it was either to protect her or that she was too ill. The only forms of contact that she permitted were through the telephone and email.
It was later exposed by Detectives Goren and Eames that Erica did not exist, and was actually played by Barb. Aside from using her story to generate book profits, this was done to solicit "donations" of medical supplies for Erica which were then sold for profit.
Though always denying that Erica was nonexistent, she did cooperate with the NYPD to use Wilkes' belief in Erica's existence against her so she would confess to the murder of Douglas Lafferty. She did so thinking she would be eligible to receive a life insurance payout resulting from Lafferty's death, but this too was a deception. (CI: "Faith")