IL IL - Debbie Fijan, 10, DuPage County, 11 Feb 1966 - #1

[rpipergirl]

Good point since no one wants to drive on roads like that or at least they don't here, they avoid them like the plague. Are Ls and his wife still together? If not maybe police should talk with her again. Maybe she saw him come home agitated that day or with "red" stains on his clothes. You know what they say about a woman scorned.

 

[Cubby]

LS's wife is no longer living. We found her obit, but I don't want to link it because it names their living children and grandchildren.

 

[Cubby]

*It appears that States Atty Hopf (known as "Doc") was a tough prosecutor with an excellent record. He went on to become a judge.

*The original magistrate who released Schofield on $50,000 bond, James Fitzgerald, was removed (or removed himself) from the case and Magistrate Marvin Johnson took over (the grand jury proceedings). He continued the bond for LS over the objections of Hopf. I can't find the reason as to why the magistrates were switched.

respectfully snipped.

It's too bad Hopf is deceased. I sure would have liked to ask him about the case.

Regarding the change of magistrates. IIRC, I read a snippet of one pay to view article indicating Schofields attorney requested and was granted the change. I don't recall their argument for the change.

 

[rpipergirl]

LS's wife is no longer living. We found her obit, but I don't want to link it because it names their living children and grandchildren.

I respect that. TY. I think it was stated earlier that she had passed. I just forgot. That is too bad. Maybe they can question folks he hung around with back then or other teachers?

 

[Cubby]

I don't know who is still around...... This case is 44 years old. Some of the players are deceased. I really don't even know how witness statements from back then would come into play at a trial if they are deceased.

I know Illinois has that new 'hearsay' law - since the Drew Peterson case, but I don't know enough about it to know how it might come into play regarding Debbies case.

Shadowangel had a good point about Debbie possibly having a diary back then. If she did and it is still around, perhaps there is information within the diary that might be helpful in prosecuting this case.

Right now I am just eagerly awaiting to see what DuPage does about this case now that Debbie's brother has made contact with them.

 

[rpipergirl]

I can't wait to hear what they had to say to him. Yes, and I also think Shadowangel's point about the diary. It is very possible that she had one back then. Maybe Jack would know if she did.

 

[shadowangel]

I'd assume that the family boxed up Debbie's room when they moved, and those boxes probably havent been opened in all this time (as a parent, I can easily understand that).

I have to wonder about the books she had with her that day...Would they still be in evidence? Could there have been something in there that LS wanted to destroy along with his material? I also wonder if the incinerator was searched. Not a bad place to toss a murder weapon.

 

[Cubby]

I would hope the books, her clothing, the mounted duck she borrowed from a friend, her boots, are all still in evidence along with whatever other evidence they collected.

I wonder whose finger or hand prints were on the books besides Debbies.

Good question on whether the incinerator was searched. None of the news articles we found said so one way or the other.

eta: I wonder if LE has LS's dna for comparison.......

 

[Abbey5]

The incinerator was searched on Sunday after LS told LE that he went back to the school during the search to burn the pictures. LE did find the charred remains of a number of pictures of nude women in the incinerator. I would think that they would have searched it thoroughly and for more than just the pictures but you never know. They could have just gone there with the pictures in mind.

I hope that everything they collected is still in evidence. I know that I'm really interested in what clothing they did collect from LS. In several different newspaper articles they mentioned trousers that were charred, trousers that had a stain on them that might be blood and I know Cubby had mentioned overalls. Well, I guess it really doesn't matter because LE stated that LS and his wife switched the outfits. I wish they would have clarified what they meant by that statement.

 

[Cubby]

I agree regarding LS's clothing. Did LE collect two sets of clothing both fake? One set real one fake? Fake in that they were not the actual clothing LS wore that day? Did LE every verify the clothing they collect was in fact what LS wore that day?

 

[rpipergirl]

I would hope the books, her clothing, the mounted duck she borrowed from a friend, her boots, are all still in evidence along with whatever other evidence they collected.

I wonder whose finger or hand prints were on the books besides Debbies.

Good question on whether the incinerator was searched. None of the news articles we found said so one way or the other.

eta: I wonder if LE has LS's dna for comparison.......

Do they have LS fingerprints on file I wonder? They could compare them to the book and if they are not his then we have another potential purp.

 

[Cubby]

Yes, but I can imagine a defense attorney explaining away why his prints would be on her books. Such as they could have been on there from him passing them to her at the bb game, or being at the same school.

 

[Cubby]

I went to Benjamin and was at the game that day. This is not how I remember it. There was no bus for afterschool activities for those of us close enough to walk home. I was one of the last kids to leave that day to walk home and Debbie was inside with LS when I left. This will haunt me until the day I die if it goes unsolved.....

respectfully snipped.

Lisa, Hi, I know this might be hard for you, but I do hope you come back to WS and I do have a question for you. Was Debbie the kind of friend who liked to walk home from school with her neighbors? or did she not mind walking home from school alone sometimes. I ask because I was a walker and I hated walking home by myself. It was appx a 15 min walk for me and boring without a friend to talk to. I would have much rather left with a friend than to have stuck around and walked myself. Not because I was afraid, I just prefered the company. That leads me to wonder what kind of excuse LS might have given Debbie to stay behind.

I'm not even sure what questions you should answer here if you have never been interviewed by LE. Perhaps use your best judgement if something you share here might interfere with a continued investigation and/or before you have spoken with the detective currently handling this case. LE may ask you to refrain from sharing certain first hand information you have as a potential witness regarding this case.

We all want to see this solved.
Please understand you were just a kid when this happened.
You could not have known what was to happen.
IF LS is guilty, he then is responsible, not yourself for leaving before your friend did.

Saying prayers for Debbie, her family and her friends who love and miss her.

 

[Cubby]

The incinerator was searched on Sunday after LS told LE that he went back to the school during the search to burn the pictures. LE did find the charred remains of a number of pictures of nude women in the incinerator. I would think that they would have searched it thoroughly and for more than just the pictures but you never know. They could have just gone there with the pictures in mind.

I hope that everything they collected is still in evidence. I know that I'm really interested in what clothing they did collect from LS. In several different newspaper articles they mentioned trousers that were charred, trousers that had a stain on them that might be blood and I know Cubby had mentioned overalls. Well, I guess it really doesn't matter because LE stated that LS and his wife switched the outfits. I wish they would have clarified what they meant by that statement.

LS seemed to have an awful lot of time back at the school during the search. I wonder if the custodian or anyone else happened to see him there later that friday night.

 

[Abbey5]

I agree regarding LS's clothing. Did LE collect two sets of clothing both fake? One set real one fake? Fake in that they were not the actual clothing LS wore that day? Did LE every verify the clothing they collect was in fact what LS wore that day?

All good questions. I have never read were LE verified the clothing they collected from LS was the clothing that he wore that Friday. In an article from The Daily Herald (Feb. 17, 1966) the LE stated that they had requested LS to bring the clothing that he wore that day on Monday. They also said that was when they found LS and Mary Anne had switched the clothes. Nothing else was mentioned about this. It is also stated in the article that on Monday, Debbie's clothes, books and other articles were sent to the state crime lab.

In an article from the Sheboygan Press, Feb. 17, 1966 it states that LS's mother refused entrance into the house (Wednesday). LE did impound the car. This is the article were they said they collected items of LS's clothing including a pair of charred pair of mens trousers. They were sent to the state crime lab.

In an article from The Manitowoc Herald, Feb. 18, 1966 it states a search warrant was served on John Schofields farm house (Thursday). Two pairs of boots, a pair of stained trousers and a collection of pictures of nude women from magazines. The boots and trousers went to the state crime lab.

So, LE must have had witnesses as to what LS was wearing that day, and noticed what he was wearing during the search (where did those charred trousers come from....incinerator or ?) Or his whole families story contridicted what he said he was wearing that night or what he turned in. I'm guessing that is why the LE made that statement about the switching of the clothes.

And they collected all of these clothes and didn't get anything off of any of them? And they didn't get anything off of Debbie's clothes or books?

Debbie was murdered on Friday Feb. 11th. Over the weekend LS was questioned for HOURS, given multiple polygraph tests, made those statemets about how he could have done it, I shouldn't be on the streets, etc... Debbie was buried on Monday. Was a autopsy really done?

I have lots of questions here.

 

[Cubby]

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/273985/Wayne+T40N+R9E/DuPage+County+1968/Illinois/

ETA: You have to click and zoom on the map. then move until you see R2. Just a little right of that is the number 23. The Schofield Family farm is right to the left of the number 23.


I knew I would find it eventually. The farm was WEST of Fair Oaks, and 'kiddie corner' to Fair Oaks and Lies Rds.

This property is currently owned by the county and is part of the West Branch Lower Reserve County Forest Preserve. (outside of 1 home which still appears to be located on the property.)

It is difficult to tell from the above map where exactly the 'deep quarry lake' falls on this property. It is somewhere along the northern property line of the Schofield Family Farm and the Bernard H. Seger property just north of the Schofield family farm. This explains what Abbey5 read about 'near the old quarry'. I don't know when this quarry was an active quarry and when it might have been filled in.

I can see from this map:
1)LS would have had access to that lake, presuming it was filled with water in 1966, to toss the murder weapon in there.
2)Instead of turning left into the Schofield family farm, (dependent upon where the driveway was) whoever dumped Debbies remains turned east onto Lies Road, as Lies dead ends at Fair Oaks.

eta
3) On 90 acres when it was dark outside, it is very conceivable LS could have been on that property without anyone in the home knowing.

Now to see if I can find any more info on that Deep Quarry Lake.

Quoting again to bring the map link current and add another map of the same area from 1964. A little earlier, but in the 1968 map the squared area on the northern part of the Schofield farm which is boxed and marked SUB as if a small pc of the land was subdivided. That same box marked SUB does not appear on the 1964 map. I have been unable to find a 1966 map of Wayne Township as of yet.

link for 1964 map
http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/273948/Wayne+T40N+R9E/DuPage+County+1964/Illinois/

 

[Cubby]

Here is why I mention the map. This is a snippet from a pay to view Chicago Tribune article.

SEEK KNIFE IN DEBBIE DEATH

[SIZE=-1]Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - ProQuest Archiver[SIZE=-1] - Feb 16, 1966[/SIZE]
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Mrs. Stark said the night Debbie was murdered she re- membered seeing the Schofield car in the driveway of the Scho- field home about 6 p. m. ... [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]All 11 related[/SIZE] - [SIZE=-1]Related web pages[/SIZE]

there is one other article where she is quoted I need to go back and find.

Here is the other article:

SEEK KNIFE IN DEBBIE DEATH

[SIZE=-1]Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - ProQuest Archiver[SIZE=-1] - Feb 16, 1966[/SIZE]
[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Mrs. Warren Stark, who lives with her husband and nine chil- dren just north of the Schofield home, described the teacher as "a very good, religious man ... [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]All 11 related[/SIZE] - [SIZE=-1]Related web pages[/SIZE]


Who were the Stark family, and why don't they appear on the 1964 or 1968 maps?

In both the 1964 and 1968 Maps it looks like there are two squares indicating buildings or homes ( not sure if they marked all buildings or just the main residence on these maps) on the Schofield family farm. Could the Stark family have lived in the residence which appears on the area marked SUB on the 1968 map and the square which is more north of the two on the farm in 66?

 

[Cubby]

And just which Schofield family member car did she see in the driveway at appx 6pm at the farm on that Friday in 1966? Remember at that time LS was no longer living at his dads and had recently moved from his dads farm to the home on Gary appx 4 months earlier according to previously posted news articles.

Also remember according to previous news articles LS claimed to have gotten a call ( presumably at his house on Gary ) at appx 6:30 pm.

If she actually saw LS's car at his dads at 6pm what was it doing there? Why did he stop at his dads when he no longer lived there at the time?

 

[Cubby]

I think the autopsy was done on Saturday the 12th IIR the news articles correctly.

 

[Cubby]

I've been trying to 'map out' the evening in my mind. Speculating, for the most part...These are just some random thoughts I'd like some input on.

LS is at the school with Debbie around 5:20-5:30. Debbie's mom arrives shortly thereafter to find Debbie is gone. (Or is she? Could LS have taken her back into the school?)

Anyway..LS takes her from the school to another location. Debbie had to have been killed outside the car, as 19 stab wounds would have bled profusely.
After killing Debbie, he transports her (in the trunk with her books and the mounted duck?) to the place she is later found. Again, there would have copious amounts of blood. Could she have been wrapped in something? Would this account for the fibers found on Debbie's boots?

LS returns home (his own, or maybe his dad's). At some point he finds out about the search-anyone read the details of how he found out that Debbie was missing?-and returns to the school to destroy the photos. Wouldn't the school have been the most likely place to center the search? Wouldnt the area be crawling with investigators? How did he get inside the school, and how did he operate the incinerator without anyone knowing?

Didnt girls Debbie's age, in this timeframe, usually keep diaries? I wonder if anything was ever found by the family mentioning her thoughts and feelings toward LS. Could there have been notes among the literature which LS and Mrs LS destroyed?

Thanks for reading my ramblings, I feel better now.

I know I already ansered this, I think.... Media articles indicate LS received a call at or about 6:30 that Debbie was missing.

In light of the recent article I found regarding a Mrs. WS, a close neighbor, indicating she saw the schofield car in the driveway at 6pm,

I am curious not only about the car- and which schofield member it belonged to, but something tells me the crime scene was either around on Klein ( gut because it was more isolated than Fair Oaks) or somewhere on the farm itself. Depending on how wooded the farm was at the time it is very likely LS could have been on the property without anyone seeing.

What if he lured Debbie to show her something at the farm? If Debbie kept a diary, I wonder if she wrote about LS telling her about things occuring on or at the farm. I think it would have certainly peaked a childs interest to come see whatever was happening at the farm if that were the case.