Episode 10: Gary Lee Schaefer
Gary Lee Schaefer was a serial killer and rapist that terrorized the small town of Springfield, Vermont from 1979 until 1983, when he was finally caught. Schaefer had served in the Navy but was discharged after being charged with arson and possession of illegal drugs. After Schaefer was apprehended it was discovered that at each base he was stationed at, a little girl went missing and was later found dead.
His first victim in Springfield is believed to be 13 year old Sherry Nastasia, who went missing in August of 1979 and was last seen by a neighbor getting into a car at about midnight. This was unlike her, as she was often responsible for her little brother and could always be counted on to watch him and make sure he was taken care of. Sherry’s body was found in a snowbank by a truck driver four months later in December of 1979, with one of her legs and several of her ribs broken as well as evidence of strangulation.
In August of 1981, almost two years to the day of Sherry’s abduction, 12 year old Theresa Fenton went missing. Theresa had asked her parents if she could go on a bike ride, and her parents agreed on a route she could take and what time she needed to be home. When she did not return, her parents and neighbors began searching for her. Theresa’s bike was located when it caught the beam of a flashlight, but Theresa was nowhere to be found. 20 hours after the search began and five miles from home, Theresa was found by a man who had taken his children fishing, and they had heard her moaning coming from the woods. Sadly Theresa passed away from her injuries within 48 hours of her disappearance.
In November of 1982, 16 year old Deana Buxton was hitchhiking when she got a ride from a man in a red car. Eventually this man pulls over at a rest stop to use the restroom, but instead of getting out of the car he reaches behind the seat, grabs a gun and threatens to shoot Deana if she didn’t do what he told her to do. He forced her to drink liquor from a bottle in the car and take off her undergarments, groping her with one hand and steering the car with the other. When they pull over to a liquor store and he forces her inside, Deana tries to get the attention of a cashier, but to no avail. She then gets back in the car with him and asks him to stop at a convenience store, saying she felt as though she was going to vomit. She is able to run into the store and get help, and provide an amazingly detailed description of both the man and the car to police. Schaefer had sped off and had crashed his car further down the road, but when police responded to the accident they did not make the connection that this was the man that had kidnapped Deana and attempted to rape and murder her, and Schaefer was free once again.
In April of 1983, 11 year old Catherine Richards was abducted when she was walking home with her friend Rachel. Schaefer pulled up alongside of them and revealed a gun, and Rachel was able to get away but turned back to see Catherine in the car. Rachel ran for help and gave police a description that allowed them to pinpoint Gary Lee Schaefer, and they reassured Catherine’s parents that they would catch him and return Catherine to them safely. At 2:00pm the next day, after Catherine’s parents and brother had been searching through the night and into the morning, Catherine’s mother called the police for an update as she had not heard from them. Police then informed her that the family needed to come down to the station, as a body had been found an hour and a half prior and needed to be identified. Catherine was so badly beaten, presumably with a rock, that the little girl was only identifiable by the braces on her teeth and her freckles.
Schaefer confessed to the murders of Theresa and Catherine and the attempted rape of Deana, and was sentenced to 30 years to life in January of 1984.
Image sources:
Burlington Free Press, located on newspapers.com