FL FL - GERARD SCHAEFER -- How Many Victims?

[Shadow205]

This homicidal Martin County, Florida, deputy sheriff, though convicted in 1973 of only two mutilation murders, is believed to be responsible for at least thirty killings. A sadistic sex-beast by nature, Schaefer would lure young women off the roads with the help of his badge to torture, mutilate and murder. He enjoyed tying his victims to trees and leaving them there while he went to work as a police officer. Teeth, jewelry identification papers from several missing young women were found in a closet in his mother's house in Ft. Lauderdale

These are the victims that I can find linked to Schaefer:

-17-year-old Susan Place and 16-year-old Georgia Jessup had vanished from Fort
Lauderdale.On April 1, 1973, hikers found human bones near Blind Creek, on Hutchinson Island. The
two teenage victims were identified by dental records on April 5. Susan had been shot in the jaw. The
crime scene indicated the girls were “tied to a tree and butchered.” Based on the M.O. and Lucille
Place’s testimony, Schaefer was the only suspect in the case.Police searched Schaefer’s mother’s
home on April 7. The objects seized from his room included: a purse owned by Susan Place (Schaefer was convicted of these 2 murders)

Leigh Hainline Bonadies. Bonadies was last seen on September 8, 1969 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Gerard John Schaefer was
named as the prime suspect in Bonadies' disappearance when authorities found her gold locket in
Schaefer's possession at the time of his arrest in the 1970's. Schaefer was never charged in
connection with Bonadies' case. Bonadies' remains were found in the subdivision of Boca Del Mar
which was under construction at the time in Boca Raton, FL in January 1978. She was positively
identified in 2004.

The next to vanish from Broward County was Carmen Marie Hallock, a 22-year-old cocktail waitress.
When Schaefer’s stash of souvenirs was seized in 1973, police recovered two of Hallock’s gold-filled
teeth and a shamrock pin identified by her family. Her body has never been found.

Belinda Hutchens was another 22-year-old cocktail waitress On January 5, 1972. In 1973, the search of Doris Schaefer’s home revealed an address book
containing the name, address and phone number of Belinda’s husband. No other trace of her was found,
no charges were ever filed.

At some point, Schaefer tired of killing victims singly. “Doing doubles,” he later wrote, “is far more
difficult than doing singles, but on the other hand it also puts one in a position to have twice as much
fun. There can be some lively discussions about which of the victims will get to be killed first.
We cannot know when Schaefer started “doing doubles.” Seven years after the fact, his name was
linked to the disappearance of 21-year-old Nancy Leichner and 20-year-old Pamela Nater, Pinellas
County residents who vanished on a 1966 picnic in the Ocala National Forest. The case remains
unsolved and both women are still missing.

A better case exists for Schaefer’s involvement in the murders of 9-year-old Peggy Rahn and
8-year-old Wendy Stevenson, in Pompano Beach. Both vanished from the beach on December 29,
1970. The girls remain missing
and Schaefer was never charged, though prosecutors publicly accused him of the crime in 1973.
Schaefer denied the slayings publicly, but later confessed in a letter dated April 19, 1989.

19-year-old Iowa residents Collette Goodenough and
Barbara Ann Wilcox left Biloxi, Mississippi, hitchhiking to Florida. No trace of either girl was seen
until April, when searchers found evidence of their fate in Schaefer’s stash. Among the items retrieved
were Barbara’s driver’s license, along with Collette’s passport, diary and a book of poems. Skeletal
remains of both victims were found at Port Saint Lucie in January 1977, but no cause of death could
be found and no charges were ever filed.

October 23, 14-year-olds Mary Alice
Briscolina and Elsie Lina Farmer were added to the missing list Farmer’s skeletal remains were found on January 17, 1973 (eight days after Schaefer went to jail), at
a construction site near Plantation High School. Briscolina was found on February 15, 200 yards
away. (Both girls were identified by dental records.) Following the April search of Doris Schaefer’s
home, Farmer’s relatives identified a piece of jewelry taken from the murdered girl.Schaefer was never charged with those murders, but he later admitted the crimes, in a letter referring
to one of his published stories, titled “Murder Demons.”

On Sunday, December 3, prison guards found Schaefer slaughtered in his cell. His throat was
slashed and he had been stabbed 42 times around his head and neck.
Schaefer was serving time for the murders of Susan Place & Georgia Jessup.

I have listed 13 victims of Schaefer. I have been reading about his crimes for years and have more information but was trying to shorten the post as much as possible. He claims to have commited murders all over the United States and even in other countries while traveling. How many unsolved cases are out there that may have been commited by him? I will try to put together information on his MO and post it.

 

[mysteriew]

At some point, Schaefer tired of killing victims singly. “Doing doubles,” he later wrote, “is far more
difficult than doing singles, but on the other hand it also puts one in a position to have twice as much
fun. There can be some lively discussions about which of the victims will get to be killed first.
We cannot know when Schaefer started “doing doubles.” Seven years after the fact, his name was
linked to the disappearance of 21-year-old Nancy Leichner and 20-year-old Pamela Nater, Pinellas
County residents who vanished on a 1966 picnic in the Ocala National Forest. The case remains
unsolved and both women are still missing.

Slightly off topic, but there were recent remains found in the Ocala forest. They have been id'd as a recent missing girl and her friend, a male. Other bodies have been found there over the years.
http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34693

 

[Richard]

>>On Sunday, December 3, prison guards found Schaefer slaughtered in his cell. His throat was
slashed and he had been stabbed 42 times around his head and neck.
Schaefer was serving time for the murders of Susan Place & Georgia Jessup.<<


What year did he die?

What date was he captured and locked up? I recall another unsolved case from 1973, but don't know if he was available to have done it.

 

[Shadow205]

The time span for the victims I listed here runs from September 1966 until May 1973 when he was charged in connection with the murders of Susan Place & Georgia Jessup.
Schaefer was killed in prison on 12/03/95.

There is a long article at this link with more details about the crimes that I listed. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/gerard_schaefer/1.html

Schaefer is listed as a suspect in 4 listings at the Charley Project:

Carmen Marie Hallock
Nancy Leichner
Pamela Nater
Debora Lowe

 

[Shadow205]

Links at The Charley Project

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lowe_debora.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hallock_carmen.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/leichner_nancy.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/nater_pamela.html

 

[Richard]

Debora Sue Lowe
Missing since February 29, 1972 from Pompano Beach, Broward County, Florida
Classification: Lost, Injured, Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: September 19, 1958
Age at Time of Disappearance: 13 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'6"; 125 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown long, straight hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: A small scar on her left leg
Clothing: A yellow blouse, black pants with vertical rose stripes and a tan poncho.
Dentals: A chipped front tooth; Crowded upper teeth.
AKA: Debbie

Circumstances of Disappearance
Lowe was last seen walking to Rickards Middle School in Pompano Beach, FL. Her parents called the police when she failed to come home from school.
The family was new to South Florida. They had just moved down from West Virginia. Gerard Schaefer, one of South Florida's most brutal serial killers has been named as a suspect. Schaefer, a one-time Martin County police deputy, had been linked to the deaths of 20 or more girls and young women between 1969 and 1972, including at least two other girls from Pompano Beach. His victims ranged in age from 9 to 25.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Broward County Sheriff's Office 954-493-8477 Or Pompano Beach Police Department
954-786-4200

Agency Case Number: 72-203684
NCIC Number: M-653207855
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Florida Missing Children Information Clearinghouse
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The Miami Herald
The Doe Network: Case File 1673DFFL

Link:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1673dffl.html

 

[concernedperson]

Debora Sue Lowe
Missing since February 29, 1972 from Pompano Beach, Broward County, Florida
Classification: Lost, Injured, Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: September 19, 1958
Age at Time of Disappearance: 13 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'6"; 125 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown long, straight hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: A small scar on her left leg
Clothing: A yellow blouse, black pants with vertical rose stripes and a tan poncho.
Dentals: A chipped front tooth; Crowded upper teeth.
AKA: Debbie

Circumstances of Disappearance
Lowe was last seen walking to Rickards Middle School in Pompano Beach, FL. Her parents called the police when she failed to come home from school.
The family was new to South Florida. They had just moved down from West Virginia. Gerard Schaefer, one of South Florida's most brutal serial killers has been named as a suspect. Schaefer, a one-time Martin County police deputy, had been linked to the deaths of 20 or more girls and young women between 1969 and 1972, including at least two other girls from Pompano Beach. His victims ranged in age from 9 to 25.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Broward County Sheriff's Office 954-493-8477 Or Pompano Beach Police Department
954-786-4200

Agency Case Number: 72-203684
NCIC Number: M-653207855
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Florida Missing Children Information Clearinghouse
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The Miami Herald
The Doe Network: Case File 1673DFFL

Link:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1673dffl.html

The work you do is incredible. May God bless you. I certainly do.I hope that all of your hopes are realized. You inspire me to be a better person and do what I can. I am limited but not without inspiration.You are truly one of the good guys. I just thank you....I just thank you.

 

[MaryLiz]

There is a new book out on Florida serial killer Gerard John Schaefer. Below is a link to an interview with the author.

Monday chat with Port St. Lucie author Yvonne Mason Sewell

Port St. Lucie resident Yvonne Mason Sewell, 57, has a degree in criminal justice and has written a book about a former Martin County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was a serial killer, now published under the title “Silent Scream."

More at link....

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/oct/20/monday-chat-port-st-lucie-author-yvonne-mason-sewe/

 

[Shadow205]

STUART — Five panelists closely tied to the conviction of one of the first coined “serial killers” met to reflect on their involvement Monday evening.
Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder, State Attorney Bruce Colton, attorney Bob Stone, writer Yvonne Mason and reporter Joe Crankshaw spoke in a community forum at the Blake Library about their work in the Gerard Schaefer case.
In April 1973, the remains of victims Susan Place and Georgia Jessup were found on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County. Schaefer was charged with their murders, linked to at least 30 missing women and girls by authorities, and given two life sentences in prison. The Fort Lauderdale resident was brutally killed by a fellow inmate in prison in 1995.
Schaefer also worked for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy for 28 days alongside Crowder.

More at the link http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/apr/27/panel-recalls-serial-killer-gerard-schaefer-whose-/

 

[Shadow205]

Glad to see a recent news story on Schaefer. Prayers to the victim's families.


http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/nov/28/treasure-coast-not-immune-to-serial-killers/

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/nov/28/treasure-coast-not-immune-to-serial-killers/

T. LUCIE COUNTY — A one-time Martin County Sheriff's Office deputy who was convicted in the savage slaying of two teenage girls and implicated in up to 30 more deaths became known as one of the most gruesome murderers in Treasure Coast's history.

more at the links

 

[WANM]

This homicidal Martin County, Florida, deputy sheriff, though convicted in 1973 of only two mutilation murders, is believed to be responsible for at least thirty killings. A sadistic sex-beast by nature, Schaefer would lure young women off the roads with the help of his badge to torture, mutilate and murder. He enjoyed tying his victims to trees and leaving them there while he went to work as a police officer. Teeth, jewelry identification papers from several missing young women were found in a closet in his mother's house in Ft. Lauderdale

These are the victims that I can find linked to Schaefer:

-17-year-old Susan Place and 16-year-old Georgia Jessup had vanished from Fort
Lauderdale.On April 1, 1973, hikers found human bones near Blind Creek, on Hutchinson Island. The
two teenage victims were identified by dental records on April 5. Susan had been shot in the jaw. The
crime scene indicated the girls were “tied to a tree and butchered.” Based on the M.O. and Lucille
Place’s testimony, Schaefer was the only suspect in the case.Police searched Schaefer’s mother’s
home on April 7. The objects seized from his room included: a purse owned by Susan Place (Schaefer was convicted of these 2 murders)

Leigh Hainline Bonadies. Bonadies was last seen on September 8, 1969 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Gerard John Schaefer was
named as the prime suspect in Bonadies' disappearance when authorities found her gold locket in
Schaefer's possession at the time of his arrest in the 1970's. Schaefer was never charged in
connection with Bonadies' case. Bonadies' remains were found in the subdivision of Boca Del Mar
which was under construction at the time in Boca Raton, FL in January 1978. She was positively
identified in 2004.

The next to vanish from Broward County was Carmen Marie Hallock, a 22-year-old cocktail waitress.
When Schaefer’s stash of souvenirs was seized in 1973, police recovered two of Hallock’s gold-filled
teeth and a shamrock pin identified by her family. Her body has never been found.

Belinda Hutchens was another 22-year-old cocktail waitress On January 5, 1972. In 1973, the search of Doris Schaefer’s home revealed an address book
containing the name, address and phone number of Belinda’s husband. No other trace of her was found,
no charges were ever filed.

At some point, Schaefer tired of killing victims singly. “Doing doubles,” he later wrote, “is far more
difficult than doing singles, but on the other hand it also puts one in a position to have twice as much
fun. There can be some lively discussions about which of the victims will get to be killed first.
We cannot know when Schaefer started “doing doubles.” Seven years after the fact, his name was
linked to the disappearance of 21-year-old Nancy Leichner and 20-year-old Pamela Nater, Pinellas
County residents who vanished on a 1966 picnic in the Ocala National Forest. The case remains
unsolved and both women are still missing.

A better case exists for Schaefer’s involvement in the murders of 9-year-old Peggy Rahn and
8-year-old Wendy Stevenson, in Pompano Beach. Both vanished from the beach on December 29,
1970. The girls remain missing
and Schaefer was never charged, though prosecutors publicly accused him of the crime in 1973.
Schaefer denied the slayings publicly, but later confessed in a letter dated April 19, 1989.

19-year-old Iowa residents Collette Goodenough and
Barbara Ann Wilcox left Biloxi, Mississippi, hitchhiking to Florida. No trace of either girl was seen
until April, when searchers found evidence of their fate in Schaefer’s stash. Among the items retrieved
were Barbara’s driver’s license, along with Collette’s passport, diary and a book of poems. Skeletal
remains of both victims were found at Port Saint Lucie in January 1977, but no cause of death could
be found and no charges were ever filed.

October 23, 14-year-olds Mary Alice
Briscolina and Elsie Lina Farmer were added to the missing list Farmer’s skeletal remains were found on January 17, 1973 (eight days after Schaefer went to jail), at
a construction site near Plantation High School. Briscolina was found on February 15, 200 yards
away. (Both girls were identified by dental records.) Following the April search of Doris Schaefer’s
home, Farmer’s relatives identified a piece of jewelry taken from the murdered girl.Schaefer was never charged with those murders, but he later admitted the crimes, in a letter referring
to one of his published stories, titled “Murder Demons.”

On Sunday, December 3, prison guards found Schaefer slaughtered in his cell. His throat was
slashed and he had been stabbed 42 times around his head and neck.
Schaefer was serving time for the murders of Susan Place & Georgia Jessup.

I have listed 13 victims of Schaefer. I have been reading about his crimes for years and have more information but was trying to shorten the post as much as possible. He claims to have commited murders all over the United States and even in other countries while traveling. How many unsolved cases are out there that may have been commited by him? I will try to put together information on his MO and post it.

Very interesting. I will look through some of my own personal files whenever I get the chance and see if I can find anymore unidentified people or missing people who happened to be a victim of his. I've actually already got one that I think he could have committed but I don't want to speak to soon.

 

[CrimeSolver]

His crimes seem concentrated on the east coast, but I wonder if he did Little Miss Panasoffkee: www.doenetwork.org/cases/470uffl.html

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

It started out as a normal day, Feb.29,1972. My Sister Debbie, my brother and I all got ready to walk to school.We walked out the door, walked together to the end of the block together, then my sister turned to the right, smiles,waved, said I'll see ya later and started the mile long walk to her middle school. She was 13 yrs old, but we were to poor to afford to be able to ride the bus. We had moved to Florida the day before Christmas.
My mother kept clippings of murders that were later linked to Gerard Schaefer...however it was only a couple years ago that we were able to get the Florida Police to acknowledge she was his "type".
My Sister is somewhere as a unidentified missing remains....but while we search databases and everything we can get our hands on...to date we have not located her.
I was reading the forum earlier, and while police found things to link him to over 30 missing girls/women, while in prison he bragged that the count was over 100. He was killed on my mothers birthday,she died Dec23,1994 never having an answer...and he died on her birthday in 1995......maybe she was sending us an answer?
I wanted to take a moment to Thank All for the caring comments and attempts to help. Trust me, we the families of those missing and lost, truly appreciate you!!!!

 

[katydid23]

My heart goes out to you and your family. :rose: :rose::rose:

 

[katydid23]

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34741&highlight=gerard+schaefer

Is this where you were reading? What town did your sister go missing from?

 

[Kimster]

:hugs: I'm so sorry about your sister! I hope our members can help you find answers.

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

Hi again, and Thank You all for your kind words. My sisters name is Deborah Sue Lowe. She vanished on Feb.29,1972 from Pompano Beach Florida.Her school books were found in a trash can 1 block from where she left us that morning. I am including here three links....the first one is the Story that the Miami news service did for us a few months ago. It also shows the re-enactment that channel 4 news ran for us. The second link is another story the Miami newspaper ran for us a few years ago. The final link is from a book called Silent Scream written by Yvonne Mason in which she attempted to acknowledge as many of the unnamed victims of Gerard Schaefer as she could in anyway identify.
Yes the link that Katydid23 included was one of the posts on Schaefer that encouraged me to register so I could post back.I was very touched by so many of the caring comments I saw as I was reading the serial killers posts. Amazing as it is, often people tell us we are wasting our time, or that by now she should have accepted this and moved on. Or we hear that now we should have closure....
Our feelings on that are very simple. If our sister is safe in Gods hands, then she is looking down and she has to be able to see she is still very loved.She will see that we never gave up......just as she would have never given up on us. As for closure....that we hope we will have the day we can bring her home and lay her to rest with her parents.
Not knowing at this point, is truly way more painful than anything we could find out. There is nothing we could hear that would be anymore horrible then the things we have learned about Schaefer, and serial killers in general.







http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/09/19/missing-child-haunts-family-nearly-40-years-later/

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.true-crime/2005-08/msg00659.html

http://avoiceforthevictims.wordpres...e-chapter-on-debra-lowe-missing-since-781972/

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

Gerard Schaefer died December 3,1995. He was the lead suspect in the disappearance of my sister Deborah Sue Lowe. December 3 was also my mothers birthday. Sadly, his death, shut the door to us ever getting any of the answers from him that we keep seeking. I will search our files on him to see if I can give you his whereabouts in 1973.

>>On Sunday, December 3, prison guards found Schaefer slaughtered in his cell. His throat was
slashed and he had been stabbed 42 times around his head and neck.
Schaefer was serving time for the murders of Susan Place & Georgia Jessup.<<


What year did he die?

What date was he captured and locked up? I recall another unsolved case from 1973, but don't know if he was available to have done it.

 

[katydid23]

Is it a strange coincidence or vital clue, but Deborah may have known serial killer Gerard Schaeffer.

James said Schaeffer worked with their father and was at their home both before and after Deborah disappeared. But that may be a dead-end because Schaeffer was murdered in prison 16 years ago.
====================================================

Schaefer worked with your father? Doing what? That seems like a major clue. Why wouldn't the police take that seriously?

Or did the reporter get that wrong?

 

[Still_Seek_Answers]

My father was a long haul truck driver at that time. He actually met Schaefer at a local bar and at first they became drinking buddies. He would come to our home at least once a week, and a few times we were invited to his home for cookouts and so we could play in his pool. When they first became friends Schaefer said his name was John and that he was a undercover narcotics officer. At some point he said he "left" that job due to stress, so my father spoke with his boss and Schaefer was hired as a loader/unloader. If my memory serves me correctly, shortly after that Schaefer was hired as a police officer by submitting a fake recommendation from his"Boss in Narcotics Division". All I can really remember about him is that my grandmother (my fathers mother lived with us) and my mother both distrusted him.Anytime he came over they would send us outside to do things or to our rooms. He had the greasiest hair I had ever saw, and I thought he always smelled funny.