Episode 180: The Murder of Maryann Measles
Over the summer of 1997, the summer going into her 7th-grade year, 13-year-old Maryann Measles had begun spending time with an older crowd.
This group consisted of 21-year-old Keith Foster, Dorothy Hallas, Maggie Mae Bennett, 19-year-old Alan Walter, Jeffrey Boyette, 24-year-old Ronald Rajcok, 23-year-old Deaneric Dupas, and June Segar. All had bad reputations of having difficult times keeping jobs, engaging in various petty crimes, doing drugs, and barely scraping their way out of high school.
Maryann had been struggling and was getting into some trouble herself, running away from home at times and skipping school. She had been sexually involved with Alan Walter and Keith Foster, and this had caused a pretty big amount of upset within the group as Dorothy Hallas was dating Keith Foster and Maggie Mae Bennett was dating Alan Walter. What no one in the group seemed to be upset about was that these grown adult men were cheating on their girlfriends and having sex with a 13-year-old girl in the 7th grade.
In early October, Maryann had confided in her mom about what had happened and that she had sex with the two men. Even though they hesitated, Maryann and her mom ended up filing statutory rape charges with the New Milford police against Alan Walter. They planned to go back and file a report on Keith Foster.
It did not take long for the rest of the group to find out about this, and they all decided to get revenge.
On October 19th, 1997, Maryann was at the New Milford Town Green when Maggie Bennett, Alan Walter, and June Segar pulled up in Maggie’s minivan. They began circling her in the car, taunting her, yelling at her and threatening her. This of course scared Maryann and she went to a pay phone and called her mom to come and get her.
Her mom came and they drove to a nearby Big Y grocery store so that Maryann’s mom could get some bread and milk. Maryann waited in the parking lot while her mom ran inside, and she had told her mom “They're going to kill me, Ma, if they find me.” Several minutes after running inside the store, Maryann’s mom came back to the car with Maryann nowhere to be found.
In the few minutes she was waiting, Maryann was approached by another member of the group. 24-year-old Ronald Rajcok drove up and forced her into his car, a Pontiac Trans Am, while Maryann was crying and begging for him to let her go and let her go back to her mom. Ronald maintained that he wanted to scare her, and in a later police interview he said that Maryann was “screaming and freaking out.” He then drove her to a pull-off on River Road about 12 minutes away.
At this location, the rest of the group was waiting. They all ganged up against Maryann and began brutally attacking her. Maryann was gang raped, beaten, and then bound in chains before being dumped into the Housatonic River.
What unfolded was a search for answers on where Maryann was and what happened that was not resolved until nine months after Maryann’s abduction.
In July of 1998, Maryann’s body was found floating near a boat launch at Lake Lillinonah in Bridgewater, Connecticut, where it connects to the Housatonic River. Her body had been chained down and then wrapped in a blanket. She was identified by her dental records. It was revealed in the nine month search for answers on where Maryann went, the group responsible for her torture and death prank called Maryann’s mom, who thought the calls were from Maryann too afraid to come home or ask for help.
The group of deplorable individuals were finally arrested in 2002. Per his police statement, Alan Walter had put a blue blanket and thick tow chain, the same blanket and chain found with Maryann’s body, inside of Maggie’s van several days before the murder. He also said that he, Keith Foster, and Deaneric Dupas took turns raping her as well as beating and threatening her. The three men, as well as the others in the group, including the insecure and jealous girlfriends, tortured Maryann and participated in beating her and verbally abusing her. Dorothy Hallas stated that she and the group told Maryann that she was “a whore, that her days are numbered and that she was gonna get her day.”
Some of the other group members said that Alan Walter choked Maryann, and that he and Deaneric Dupas drowned her. In his statement Alan said “I put her left arm across my lap, and I pushed her head into the water, so she was kneeling face down into the water. Then I noticed I didn't see any more bubbles in the water, and that really, like, scared me."
While no official motive was established, the arrest warrant affidavits said that the defendants killed Maryann to prevent her from testifying against Keith Foster and Alan Walter for statutory rape charges. The three women had participated and even encouraged their boyfriends to participate and plan the kidnapping and murder out of revenge for Maryann having sex with their boyfriends.
Of the eight, Alan Walter and Deaneric Dupas were the only two who were charged with capital murder, but they both entered plea deals to avoid the death penalty. Alan Walter pleaded guilty to felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault, and tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Deaneric Dupas also pleaded guilty to felony murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to 47 years in prison.
Keith Foster was sentenced the most heavily out of the group with a sentence of 110 years for felony murder, first-degree sexual assault, three counts of first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, tampering with a witness, and tampering with physical evidence. Keith Foster's girlfriend, Dorothy Halls, was charged with and pleaded guilty to felony murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, and risk of injury to a minor. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison and five years probation.
Maggie Mae Bennett, the girlfriend of Alan Walter and the driver of the mini van that she and two others in the group used to circle and harass Maryann, was charged with first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor, tampering with a witness, and tampering with evidence. Due to her cooperation with prosecutors, Maggie Mae Bennett was sentenced to only 19 years in prison. She was released in 2019. Ronald Rajcok was sentenced to 36 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor, and tampering with a witness.
As part of a plea bargain, June Segar was found guilty of felony murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, and tampering with a witness. She received a sentence of 30 years in prison. Jeffrey Boyette pleaded no contest to felony murder, first-degree sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping, and risk of injury to a minor. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison which was suspended after 25 years.
Maryann’s sister Jennifer Measles-Mankus, who was 10-years-old when Maryann was murdered, stated “The more time that passes the more memories you didn’t make together, the more adventures you didn’t share, the more things you miss out on in your adult life.” Maryann’s mom Cindi stated "I love her and I miss her and I think about her every day. And what would she look like? How would she sound? What would her kids look like? Thirteen years wasn’t long enough. Not nearly long enough."
Image sources:
courant.com - “Parole board rejects early release for key figure in kidnapping, gang rape, murder of New Milford teenager Maryann Measles”
x.com via Republican American @rep_am