IL IL - Debbie Fijan, 10, murdered, DuPage Co, 11 Feb 1966 #3

[Kayo - 55]

I couldn't remember who asked/posted a question regarding two separate incidents. I tried to find the post, but couldn't find it. From memory: The date that John S. drowned while fishing in Canada, and when Karin NS was sexually assaulted? Karin lived just east of Benjamin School on St. Charles Rd., her father was a Dr., and he owned a "race horse". I have not been able to verify Karin's assault, who was supposedly under the age of 8 when her assault occurred. A police report was never filed.

John S. drowned in May, 1967. Henry Van Acker was appointed on 06/06/1967 to fill JS's unexpired term as Wayne Township Highway Commissioner. Karin's supposed incident occurred in the spring of 1967. This post is probably irrelevant/not related to Debbie's death in the least, especially since Karin's incident has never(?) been confirmed.

As I've mentioned before, I have always wondered if JS was protecting LS when LS was initially charged, or vice versa; especially when you "factor in" LS's attorney's, the "horse racket" in that area at that time, JS looking out to protect the family (Klein) name, his "perks" as HC, most likely having worked with the owner's of the Quarry just north of his farm, those connections with "who knows"??? Hmm...............

 

[Kayo - 55]

Unconfirmed info. below is 8 - 10 years old.

This is very hard for me. My name is Karin ------- In 1967 I was 5 years of age. It was in the spring, probably April. We lived one house down from the grade school where Debbie was abducted on a 40 acre spread of land. A hired hand who was responsible for the care and feeding of a racehorse we had purchased brutally sexually assaulted me, strangled me and left me for dead. I am now 51. We do not know the man's name. My parents, one of whom has died and the other who confirmed the attack but now has senility, are then not able to help with his identity. I have contacted the Detective in charge of Debbie's murder. I do not know if the events were related, but in such a rural area I think that would be quite odd in less than a year to have 2 men who were so evil. My attacker worked for Mr. Mountjoy who was a horse breeder at Fair Oaks Farms. Because of the publicity surrounding Debbie's death, my father did not file a police report and we have been silent about my attack all these years. The man was about 35, very weathered, wore a plaid brown western shirt and cowboy boots. He had dirty blonde hair, was very wirey in his frame and he drove a tan El Comino. He also wore a green jean jacket and carried a very distinctive knife on his belt. If this rings a bell to anyone, please message me on Facebook. My heart goes out to Debbie's family and I am sorry it has taken me so long to find the courage to post this.

 

[Winward1]

I don't see a clear connection between this case and Debbie's. Also, during the 1960s on the outskirts of Chicago, a notoriously violent family (the Jaynes) was involved in all manners of the horse business. Their patriarch was a rapist as a youth and one of their stable hands committed the rape murders of three boys that went unsolved from the 1950s to the 1990s.

 

[Ktoolz]

I am Karin NS's sister. I check in every so often to see if there is any new information about Debbie's case and information that could be pertinent to my sister's attack. I'm wondering if there is someway I could get more information about the Jaynes family. We know the person that attacked my sister was involved in the horse world. I don't know if her case is related to Debbie's in any way. It seems so strange that there were two attacks in such a close time span and proximity. We would like to bring closure to my sister. Winward 1 can you provide or give me direction to information about this Jaynes family. Thank you so much for any help you can give.

 

[Ktoolz]

I did some research and found information about the Jayne family. Doesn't seem to connect to my sister's attack but confirmed what we had been told that the horse world had some very bad people involved in it back then.

 

[Kayo - 55]

Thank you for your post Ktoolz. It's always good to see/read new perspectives, though it is still upsetting about your sister KNS. Info. below is rather lengthy, some specific to FO Farms, date when built, others involved (i.e. Mountjoy), etc. I believe Mountjoy and some of this may have been in one of Debbie's previous - WS post(?). Apparently, Mountjoy served in WWII, which would have put him at about 40ish in 1966/67, depending what age he enlisted. This might be "old news"/nothing new to you and your sister. I had heard (unconfirmed) that there's a distant relative of Silas J. that operated a horse farm in the Elgin area <10 years ago. Still exists??

VALLEY VIEW SUPREME (newlineza.com)

 

[Kayo - 55]

I did some research and found information about the Jayne family. Doesn't seem to connect to my sister's attack but confirmed what we had been told that the horse world had some very bad people involved in it back then.

Yes, "very bad". As previously posted, SJ was initially named in the disappearance of candy heiress Helen Brach. I think SJ was convicted in the early 1970's(?) of killing a brother.

 

[Winward1]

Been a while since I read up on it but there was a considerable amount of information on the web about the the Jaynes online. I had only heard of the Peterson-Schuessler murders not long before they were solved, which I think stunned a lot of people who remembered the case from the fifties. I was in the area when that happened. That the break in the case was tied to an investigation into the Brach case was really weird. The whole thing was like a who's who of some of the Chicago area's most notorious cold cases.

 

[Winward1]

For perhaps the first time this case has garnered an appearance in a book, where it has been assigned its own multi-page section:

https://www.amazon.com/Zodiac-Mania...s=zodiac+maniac&qid=1611861567&s=books&sr=1-2

 

[Kayo - 55]

55 years - 02/11/2021: Sadly, I can remember 02/11/66, 02/12, and Debbie's funeral like it was yesterday. I try to remember my friendship and fun times with Debbie much more (i.e. class, lunch, BB games); but still feel that DPCSD "had their man" in Feb./1966. I'm still in disbelief to this day.

The pics below aren't the best. I had planned on placing this "memorial" today close to where Debbie's body was found (roughly 200 feet east of Fair Oaks, north side of Lies); although, Carol Stream & Wayne Township did not give me permission. Understandable, since the location would have been within the 20' easement between Lies and the adjacent "farm field" to the north. I might place something in the future if I can get permission from DPCFP, or the owner(s) of the "farm field"/West Chicago.

 

[Cubby]

55 years and someone got away with murder.

Debbie is never far from my thoughts. Still praying this case is resolved someday.

 

[Winward1]

As it is the anniversary of her passing this is my take on Debbie’s case, which I recently elaborated on in book form.

She was murdered by a serial killer. And not just any serial killer, a serial mass murderer, one later known as Zodiac, the one not just me but others have theorized was behind murders elsewhere prior to his killings in the Bay Area.

His name was William Thoresen III. He was the son of a millionaire when a million bucks was still a million bucks. Adjusted for inflation his family were near billionaires. He drove a Ferrari, dated Playboy Playmates and hoarded weapons by the ton. Even if he hadn’t killed a fly his story is a case of rich dysfunction the likes I have not heard equalled by anyone. Unfortunately, however, he was a killing machine and he used his money, family’s status and looks for all they were worth.

Most notably he killed upwards of 50 people (a conservative estimate) in six states (also a conservative estimate.) He was from Kenilworth, Illinois. I came across him while investigating the Valerie Percy murder. After many years of extreme abuse, his wife blasted him to kingdom come. After all he did he got off easy.

Perhaps most important, in order to protect the jobs and reputations of numerous people in the justice system, his crimes were covered up and proof abounds of this (as I have also detailed in my latest book.) Yes, one of his victims was the daughter of a US Senator. The story is unbelievable. But, as far as this case goes, these are the facts:

Debbie was last seen talking with a man who was in a white car. Thoresen inherited a white Chevy Corvair in Chicago in late 1965.
One of Thoresen’s MOs was to talk people into his car, as police believe happened with Debbie.
The FBI believed Thoresen was a prime suspect in the murder of Valerie Percy.
Like Debbie, Valerie was slain in 1966.
Like Debbie, Valerie was slain in the Chicago suburbs.
Like Debbie, Valerie was stabbed repeatedly.
Like Debbie, Valerie was slain in a place where murder, let alone random murder, is unheard of.
Debbie was stabbed about the head, neck and upper body.
Valerie was stabbed in the neck, body and bludgeoned in the head.
I obtained a copy of Thoresen’s signature. It looks like writing on an envelope linked to the murder of presumed Zodiac victim Cheri Jo Bates.
Like Debbie and Valerie, Cheri Jo was slain in 1966.
Like Debbie, Cheri Jo was last seen at her school.
Like Debbie, Cheri Jo was stabbed about the head, neck and upper body.
Like Debbie, Cheri Jo was stabbed with a small-bladed knife.
Debbie’s body was left beside a road.
Cheri Jo’s body was left beside an alley.
Witnesses in Valerie and Cheri Jo’s cases described a suspect who fits Thoresen’s description. (Valerie’s stepmother was an eyewitness to her murder.)
The Zodiac Killer was active in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.
From 1965 to 1970, Thoresen’s primary residence was in San Francisco.
Thoresen was a frequent traveler to Southern California, where Cheri Jo was murdered, starting in 1962.
The handwriting on an envelope linked to the Bates case looks like handwriting in a letter written to an Illinoian whose daughter and daughter's boyfriend were murdered in May, 1969, a time it has been assumed Zodiac was up to no good…somewhere.
Thoresen was a suspect in the murder of Judith Mae Anderson in Chicago in 1957. Anderson’s body was “neatly severed” while being dismembered.
Thoresen had numerous arrests for violent assaults. His wife said he was behind the murders of three people, including his brother whose body was found in Lake Forest, IL five months before Debbie's murder.
Officials have refused to release reports from Valerie and Debbie’s cases.
In Valerie’s case, five years ago, the village of Kenilworth spent a considerable amount of money fighting an FOIA suit a lawyer filed in order to gain access to the case’s files.
Meanwhile, there is no marker on Debbie’s grave.

I’ve revealed more on Thoresen on this site in the Serial Killers/Zodiac Killer section (a thread called Don’t Count Him Out.) Included are images of the documents referenced above.

But this one’s for you, Debbie.

 

[Kayo - 55]

As it is the anniversary of her passing this is my take on Debbie’s case, which I recently elaborated on in book form.

She was murdered by a serial killer. And not just any serial killer, a serial mass murderer, one later known as Zodiac, the one not just me but others have theorized was behind murders elsewhere prior to his killings in the Bay Area.

His name was William Thoresen III. He was the son of a millionaire when a million bucks was still a million bucks. Adjusted for inflation his family were near billionaires. He drove a Ferrari, dated Playboy Playmates and hoarded weapons by the ton. Even if he hadn’t killed a fly his story is a case of rich dysfunction the likes I have not heard equalled by anyone. Unfortunately, however, he was a killing machine and he used his money, family’s status and looks for all they were worth.

Most notably he killed upwards of 50 people (a conservative estimate) in six states (also a conservative estimate.) He was from Kenilworth, Illinois. I came across him while investigating the Valerie Percy murder. After many years of extreme abuse, his wife blasted him to kingdom come. After all he did he got off easy.

Perhaps most important, in order to protect the jobs and reputations of numerous people in the justice system, his crimes were covered up and proof abounds of this (as I have also detailed in my latest book.) Yes, one of his victims was the daughter of a US Senator. The story is unbelievable. But, as far as this case goes, these are the facts:

Debbie was last seen talking with a man who was in a white car. Thoresen inherited a white Chevy Corvair in Chicago in late 1965.
One of Thoresen’s MOs was to talk people into his car, as police believe happened with Debbie.
The FBI believed Thoresen was a prime suspect in the murder of Valerie Percy.
Like Debbie, Valerie was slain in 1966.
Like Debbie, Valerie was slain in the Chicago suburbs.
Like Debbie, Valerie was stabbed repeatedly.
Like Debbie, Valerie was slain in a place where murder, let alone random murder, is unheard of.
Debbie was stabbed about the head, neck and upper body.
Valerie was stabbed in the neck, body and bludgeoned in the head.
I obtained a copy of Thoresen’s signature. It looks like writing on an envelope linked to the murder of presumed Zodiac victim Cheri Jo Bates.
Like Debbie and Valerie, Cheri Jo was slain in 1966.
Like Debbie, Cheri Jo was last seen at her school.
Like Debbie, Cheri Jo was stabbed about the head, neck and upper body.
Like Debbie, Cheri Jo was stabbed with a small-bladed knife.
Debbie’s body was left beside a road.
Cheri Jo’s body was left beside an alley.
Witnesses in Valerie and Cheri Jo’s cases described a suspect who fits Thoresen’s description. (Valerie’s stepmother was an eyewitness to her murder.)
The Zodiac Killer was active in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.
From 1965 to 1970, Thoresen’s primary residence was in San Francisco.
Thoresen was a frequent traveler to Southern California, where Cheri Jo was murdered, starting in 1962.
The handwriting on an envelope linked to the Bates case looks like handwriting in a letter written to an Illinoian whose daughter and daughter's boyfriend were murdered in May, 1969, a time it has been assumed Zodiac was up to no good…somewhere.
Thoresen was a suspect in the murder of Judith Mae Anderson in Chicago in 1957. Anderson’s body was “neatly severed” while being dismembered.
Thoresen had numerous arrests for violent assaults. His wife said he was behind the murders of three people, including his brother whose body was found in Lake Forest, IL five months before Debbie's murder.
Officials have refused to release reports from Valerie and Debbie’s cases.
In Valerie’s case, five years ago, the village of Kenilworth spent a considerable amount of money fighting an FOIA suit a lawyer filed in order to gain access to the case’s files.
Meanwhile, there is no marker on Debbie’s grave.

I’ve revealed more on Thoresen on this site in the Serial Killers/Zodiac Killer section (a thread called Don’t Count Him Out.) Included are images of the documents referenced above.

But this one’s for you, Debbie.

If reading/following Debbie's WS site, the Edna (Klein) Schofield (deceased) and John E. Schofield (deceased) descendants and/or family relatives are "loving you".

 

[Winward1]

If reading/following Debbie's WS site, the Edna (Klein) Schofield (deceased) and John E. Schofield (deceased) descendants and/or family relatives are "loving you".

If this is your way of saying Thoresen's a vastly superior suspect for this case, I agree.

 

[Kayo - 55]

If this is your way of saying Thoresen's a vastly superior suspect for this case, I agree.

No, not saying Thoresen is a vastly superior suspect for this case. Scare quotes were used around "loving you" in my 02/12/21 post (see below).

Scare quotes


Description
Description
Scare quotes are quotation marks that writers place around a word or phrase to signal that they are using it in an ironic, referential, or otherwise non-standard sense.

 

[Winward1]

Like Valerie and Cheri Jo, Debbie was not sexually assaulted.
Like Valerie and Cheri Jo, Debbie was murdered for murder's sake.

 

[Winward1]

What I find ironic is that one can be so dedicated to the idea that a 20 something elementary school teacher could somehow pull off a perfect crime by murdering a kid from the school where he worked and put it over on the cops to the point where their case against him would implode in a matter of days.

And be so dedicated to this idea, it seems, that if the case was solved tomorrow and it revealed that the murderer was someone other than said teacher, one would be displeased. If nothing else, that is dedication.

No, not saying Thoresen is a vastly superior suspect for this case. Scare quotes were used around "loving you" in my 02/12/21 post (see below).

Scare quotes


Description
Description
Scare quotes are quotation marks that writers place around a word or phrase to signal that they are using it in an ironic, referential, or otherwise non-standard sense.

 

[LisaWilliams]

I just came across this article re: Debbie's funeral. Some of you may have seen this before. Some of these people/pallbearer's might still be alive. If I recall, a few of them were Schofield's age, and would now be about 80 (12/2020).

"Six Degrees of Separation"

Clipping from Chicago Tribune - Newspapers.com

My dad was one of the pall bearers

 

[Kayo - 55]

My dad was one of the pall bearers

Thank you for sharing your post, and welcome back. If I recall from a previous post, your family lived close to the Fijan family(?). Our family lived just south of St. Charles Rd, off Cnty Farm Rd.; but I have many fun memories "hanging out" with 2-3 other classmates that lived close to where Debbie lived. Back in the days - HA! of ice/roller skating, bowling leagues, swimming, mini-bikes, biking after dark, sledding with REAL sleds, etc.

Thank you again LW for your post, and your Dad's support for Debbie and her family. Given the terrible tragedy with Debbie, her WS site continues to provide a certain degree of insight, and "inexpensive therapy".

 

[Kayo - 55]

What I find ironic is that one can be so dedicated to the idea that a 20 something elementary school teacher could somehow pull off a perfect crime by murdering a kid from the school where he worked and put it over on the cops to the point where their case against him would implode in a matter of days.

And be so dedicated to this idea, it seems, that if the case was solved tomorrow and it revealed that the murderer was someone other than said teacher, one would be displeased. If nothing else, that is dedication.

WIFI= "What I find ironic is" (PRE 02/11/1966)
1) WIFI is that Loren S. attended Pontifical College Josephinium (Seminary) in Ohio for < 2 years. He enrolled there in about 1957, then attended Quincy University where he graduated in 1962/63. Bernard Law was teaching at PCJ when LS was there. Law was largely known for covering up child abuse by Catholic Priests. LS could have been very "impressionable" - who knows?? That "finding yourself" thing - boys or girls? "Playing with Rosie Palm and her 5 sisters". Just because he got married........., had 4 or 5 kids,.............???
2) WIFI is that "Father John", LS's father, delivered fresh eggs to the local jail. He was Highway Commissioner from about 1958 to 1967, and he knew LE, etc. "It's now what you know, but who you know".
3) WIFI is that IL State's Attorney William "Doc" Hopf (1929 - 1998) was Special Deputy Sheriff - DuPage County Sheriff's Office (dispatch) in 1948. In less than 20 years, he's "representing" Debbie and her family during her Grand Jury Trial. REPRESENTING WHO's INTEREST?, commonly referred to as a CONFLICT of INTEREST. Sadly, Debbie and her parents DIDN'T GET THE FAIR & JUST "REPRESENTATION" they deserved.
4) WIFI is that LS even got his "foot in the door" at Benjamin (Sept./1964 if I recall). Then again, he was "part Klein", who's family had been in Wayne Township since the 1850's. I think that's commonly called preferential treatment, a.k.a. "it's not what you know, but who you know".

WIFI day of 02/11/1966, and POST 02/11/1966 to follow. Some of the above has been previously posted.