GUILTY SC - Yana Schenker, 75, & Shalamar Byrd, 38, slain, Aiken County, 11 Aug 2010

[Reannan]

This is a really odd case. Last Wednesday around 9 pm, a security alarm sent a message to LE about a fire in a nice home in Aiken, SC. Authorities arrived on the scene to find the body of a 75 year old female who has been identified as Yana Peters Schenker, the owner of the residence. About an hour latter, LE was called to a 'brush fire' (fire in the woods) about 7 miles away, where they found the body of a young white female 25-35 years old and how was wearing a sterling silver turquoise ring (picture included). Here it is Sunday evening, and I do not see where they have identified the younger woman. It is odd that it is taking LE this long to take identify the second victim. The link below was posted early in the investigation but has some good info that other articles did not have.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12967779

 

[Lovejac]

This is a really odd case. Last Wednesday around 9 pm, a security alarm sent a message to LE about a fire in a nice home in Aiken, SC. Authorities arrived on the scene to find the body of a 75 year old female who has been identified as Yana Peters Schenker, the owner of the residence. About an hour latter, LE was called to a 'brush fire' (fire in the woods) about 7 miles away, where they found the body of a young white female 25-35 years old and how was wearing a sterling silver turquoise ring (picture included). Here it is Sunday evening, and I do not see where they have identified the younger woman. It is odd that it is taking LE this long to take identify the second victim. The link below was posted early in the investigation but has some good info that other articles did not have.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12967779

very odd indeed, Reannan! From your link:

The woman whose body was found near the pond was much younger, about 25 to 35 years old. She had light skin, hazel eyes and brown hair, and was wearing a sterling silver ring. The Aiken County Coroner described the woman as 5'8" tall and weighing 130 to 145 pounds. As of Friday afternoon, Carlton is still working to identify the victim.

There is a picture of the ring she was wearing. And it states that both victims were suffocated.

I'm sure they are looking into relatives. Maybe the younger women was a granddaughter? Or, I wonder if she was a caregiver for the older lady??

I will definitely be checking for updates.

 

[Lovejac]

http://www2.wagt.com/news/2010/aug/13/exclusive-aiken-murder-victims-son-speaks-out-ar-704515/

well, this article answers some questions. Yana Schenker’s son speaks out. He is her only relative. Also,

Investigators have evidence linking both murders and believe both women were killed inside Schenker's home

 

[Reannan]

If the young woman was a relative or even close family friend, you would think that someone would have made the connection and reported her missing by now. I know there was one news report where a neighbor was interviewed that said there was a lot of traffic at the house, which always makes you think drugs are involved. That just doesn't 'feel' right in this case to me. This lady appeared to be financially stable and not the type of individual who would have been involved in drug trafficking. She moved to Aiken about 10 years ago because she loved horses. She currently owned one that was boarded near by. Her name is mentioned in the credits of the 2008 film "Chasing Cherkov" that her son starred in. So far, there are no new reports. I will update if anything new comes along.

 

[lizzybeth]

Reannan, could the younger woman possibly have been involved with drugs? Maybe she was a caretaker (looks like the neighbors would know that though) or someone the older woman had taken in.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

Hi all! This is such a sad and perplexing case. I have a few thoughts which may or may not be helpful.

1) I wonder if the older lady kept medications for her horse inside her home.

2) Did Mrs. Shenker advertise for a groom, horsetrainer, etc. in the days before her death? Many grooms drift from barn to barn for employment and this could be why the younger woman hasn't been reported missing -if she is from out of state, that is.

3) One reason the younger woman may not be reported missing is that a family member of hers may have committed these murders and they went to the house together for some reason.


I hope we hear something soon as I have been reading here for the past few days and am now hooked. This one justs gets to me. Such a tragedy. My prayers to the families of these victims.

MOO

wm

 

[Reannan]

The ring that was found on the burned body of the young woman has now been determined to have belonged to the 75 year old victim, Yana Schenker. This is all so strange....

"Yana Schenker, 75, was the owner of a sterling sliver ring with a green stone. It was being worn by another woman, about 25 years old, whose body was found on Storm Branch Road on Aug. 11, the same night Schenker was found burned beyond recognition in her home on Paddock Bend."

http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2010-08-17/ring-belonged-named-victim?v=1282007896

 

[Belinda]

I wonder if this could be a robbery gone wrong and one of the perps ended up dead.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

I am wondering the same thing Belinda. Maybe the younger woman was upset about the older woman being murdered and the murderer stopped the car down the road and killed her too. This is the only theory that makes sense to me at this point.

MOO

wm

 

[tfrohning]

that was my first thought that the ring belong to the older lady.

The ring looked antique to me. My question would be "did Mrs. Shenker wear the ring all the time"

 

[Lovejac]

I wonder if this could be a robbery gone wrong and one of the perps ended up dead.

I am wondering the same thing Belinda. Maybe the younger woman was upset about the older woman being murdered and the murderer stopped the car down the road and killed her too. This is the only theory that makes sense to me at this point.

MOO

wm

I can definitely see this. I can only think of 2 reasons the young woman would be wearing the ring. She stole it from Mrs. Schenker or Mrs. Schenker gave it to her and if it was given to her, one would think that she was a friend of Mrs. Schenker's and SOMEONE would know her.

 

[Reannan]

A few interesting things in this article:
http://www.aikenstandard.com/Local/0813FireHomicides

"Neighbors said Schenker has lived in her two-story home for about 10 years and always had visitors coming and going from the home. "

and this comment that was left:

"r.a.t.t. wrote:
The property at Paddocks Bend was an equestrian property. Horses on the property were being cared for by someone other than Ms. Schenker. The Sheriff and Coroner want to know who was taking care of the horses. Anyone with ANY information on this subject, please call.
8/13/2010 11:25 AM EDT"

I was searching along the lines of possible advertisements for 'horse boarding', 'equine boarding', 'horse for sale', etc. with a connection to the name "Schenker" or "Paddock Bend, Aiken". Stupidly hoping to maybe find an add that had been recently placed. Not sure what search string I used

that linked me to a Florida phone number that belongs to an International horse business group, and also links to a "Horse Shopper USA" address close to where the home burned in Aiken. Probably not connected to this case at all... I just found it something worth looking at because maybe the "people coming and going" had something to do with horse boarding and/or sales. Thoughts???

 

[Reannan]

Her obituary - sounds like she was a really interesting lady....

http://www.aikenstandard.com/obits/schenker

Yana Peters Schenker

8/16/2010 8:14 PM


Memorial services for Mrs. Yana Peters Schenker will be held in California and Prague, Czech Republic. Mrs. Schenker, 75, of Aiken, died Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at her residence. Memorial donations may be directed to Equine Rescue of Aiken. 532 Glenwood Dr. Aiken, SC 29803. SC Cremation & Burial Society, Graniteville, SC is in charge of the arrangements.

The only child of Zbislav "Mike" Peters and Vera J. Peters, she was born in Prague, Czech Republic and fled the country in 1948, when the government sought to kill her father who was a member of Parliament and the Christian Democratic Party. The family settled in Queens, NY and Yana became an accomplished figure skater, learning from her father who had been a member of the 1928 Czechoslovakian Olympic Ice Hockey Team. In 1954, at the age of 19, she performed a one-woman figure skating show in Atlantic City, NJ. She was also an outstanding golfer and was known to out-drive many men with whom she played. In 1957, she married Dr. William James Schenker, MD and started her family and her career as an interior decorator. She also had a great love for animals, which was the main reason she decided to move to Aiken seven years ago.

She is survived by her son; William James Schenker, Jr and his wife, Talya Nevo-Hacohen, of Corona del Mar, CA, her dearest friend; Marcela Hrbkova, Prague and her former husband, Dr. William J. Schenker, Sr, MD, Cullman, AL

Expressions of sympathy for the Schenker family may be left at www.southcarolinacremation.com

 

[Belinda]

Wow. What an interesting life she had. So sad for it to end like this. I wish they could get the 2nd victim identified. I suspect that is going to be central to solving the case.

 

[Snoopster]

Here is a link to google map of Yana Schenker's house on Paddocks Bend (I believe).

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=paddocks+bend,+aiken+sc&sll=33.500299,-81.763421&sspn=0.020899,0.027637&gl=ca&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Paddocks+Bend,+Aiken,+South+Carolina+29803,+United+States&t=h&z=16

It looks like a very quiet and private area. What could Yana and the other victm have in common? It does look like a large property for a 75 year old to take care of all by herself.

 

[Gracenote]

Aiken and the surrounding area have some very wealthy people (and some very poor). It could be related to a robbery. I haven't paid a lot of attention to this story but I will now and see if I can find out any info.

 

[Snoopster]

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=105+Paddocks+Bend,+Aiken,+SC,+United+States&daddr=Old+Storm+Branch+Road,+Beech+Island,+Aiken,+SC,+United+States&geocode=FfBE_wEd-Uog-ymXokkYW7P5iDGL2lMohmUqSA%3BFf36_gEdLlIe-ynrs_8G-Mr5iDGMXVxO0VNRJg&gl=ca&hl=en&mra=prev&sll=33.499033,-81.847458&sspn=0.167196,0.2211&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=12


Link showing possible route/distance between locations where the two victims were found. There are a few different routes that could be taken, but it looks like it would be about a 20 minute drive. I would think that the killer(s) would take the back roads between the two places if he(they) didn't want to be seen with a victim, or upset passenger, in the vehicle.

According to the news reports, the 911 call about the body on fire in the woods came less than an hour after the alarm went off at Yana's house.

 

[Reannan]

Thanks to all of you for helping look at this case. It is driving me crazy!!! The drive between where the house was, and where the young female was found burning is probably only about a 15 minute drive. I hope to actually go to both sites and time the distance this weekend. I will keep you posted. Nothing new in the local media yet... SO frustrating!!!

 

[IWannaKnow]

This probably has nothing to do with anything, but did anyone else notice that a woman was shot to death in a tack shop in Carthage MS on the same day and at nearly the same time?? Wednesday, August 11, sometime after 7:30pm. It is 500 miles between the towns, a straight shot over I-20, 9 hours according to google. Curious to me. From what I have found, she was shot to death in her horse tack shop, sitting behind the desk. Two shots to the head from a small caliber gun. Broken window point of entry. Husband has a rock solid alibi. Yana and the second victim were strangled and burned, not shot, but still very curious.

Woman found dead in tack shop - Carthage, Ms - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

 

[Missizzy]

Great reminder, IWannaKnow. Is there evidence of any connection between Yana and that tack shop? I wonder if she ordered anything by mail or a catalog.

I noticed that it was reported that the reason behind her move to Aiken was her love for animals. I've only seen mention of a single horse on her property. Were there other pets or livestock on the property? I'm just not understanding what the love for animals has to do with living in Aiken.

Yana's obituary suggests donations to Equine Rescue of Aiken. Did Yana volunteer with this organization and was she instrumental in founding it? I'm just curious as people I know that do horse rescue usually have more than one horse at a time. It looks like this must be the website for the rescue group:

http://www.aikenequinerescue.com/

This rescue group was founded in 2006, so a few years after Yana moved to town. There's info about the founder/owner and photos of 36 beautiful horses available for adoption. There's also information about donations and volunteer opportunities to work with the horses.