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2:32

Welcome to the Serial Killer

2:34

podcast, the podcast dedicated

2:37

to serial killers. Who

2:39

they were, what they did and

2:41

how. Episode 227. I

2:46

am your humble host, Thomas Rosaland

2:49

Weiburg Thun. And tonight

2:51

we continue the tale of

2:54

the killer cop, Gerard John

2:56

Schaeffer. Last

2:58

episode ended with me listing

3:00

all the known and suspected

3:02

victims. Tonight I

3:05

will present to you his ultimate

3:07

fate. Enjoy. This

3:11

episode, like all other sagas told

3:13

by me, would not

3:16

be possible without my loyal

3:18

Patreonies. They are... You

3:40

are truly the backbone of

3:42

the Serial Killer podcast. And

3:45

without you, there would be no show.

3:47

Thank you. in

4:00

vain. All TSK episodes

4:02

will be available 100% ad-free to

4:05

my TSK Producers Club on patreon.com

4:11

slash The Serial Killer Podcast.

4:14

No generic ads, no ad

4:16

reads, no jingles. I

4:19

promise. And of course, if

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So don't miss out and join now.

4:58

May 18th, 1973 The sun beat

5:01

down on

5:08

Miami like a

5:11

hammer on

5:19

a melon. The air thick

5:21

with humidity and the

5:23

stink of cheap suntan lotion. That

5:27

day Gerard John Shafer Jr.

5:29

found himself saddled with two

5:31

counts of murder. Susan

5:34

K. Place and Georgia M.

5:36

Jessup. Names that had

5:38

become synonymous with a

5:40

brand of terror that clung to the city

5:43

like a shroud. Seven

5:45

sluggish weeks had

5:47

crawled by since the gristly discovery

5:49

of those Fort Lauderdale girls, their

5:53

bodies blooming with decay on

5:55

the desolate edge of Hutchinson Island.

6:00

Three days before the official

6:02

charges, the air crackled with

6:04

a different kind of tension.

6:07

An agitated Robert Stone, the

6:10

state attorney, flanked by a

6:12

tight-lipped Lieutenant Patrick Duval and

6:14

the oddly quiet Chief Investigator

6:16

Lem Brumley, faced a

6:19

gaggle of reporters. The

6:21

room hummed with the restless energy

6:23

of hungry wolves. Stone

6:26

waited, a vein throbbing

6:28

in his temple, until the din

6:30

subsided to a low growl. He

6:34

spoke, his words clipped and

6:36

laced with a barely contained frustration.

6:39

Shafer, he declared, was

6:42

their only suspect, but

6:44

a shadow lurked behind his

6:46

pronouncement. The media. This

6:50

feeding frenzy, this circus stone

6:52

worried, would give the defense

6:54

an easy path to

6:56

a change of venue. The

6:59

trial, then, wouldn't unfold

7:01

under the harsh glare of

7:03

Miami's unforgiving sun. It

7:06

would be transplanted, a weed

7:08

pulled from its familial soil,

7:12

and plunked down somewhere more

7:14

forgiving. There the

7:16

story hadn't saturated the very air

7:18

people breathed. Except

7:21

the story had teeth. It

7:24

had spread like a virus, leaping

7:27

from local rag to national broadsheet.

7:30

It had even crossed the Atlantic,

7:33

finding its way into the pages of

7:35

a German magazine, printer, dubbing

7:38

Shafer the Killer Cop, and

7:40

lending the whole sordid affair

7:42

an undesired

7:44

international flavor. Yet

7:47

for all its reach, the

7:49

story remained a sideshow. Watergate,

7:53

with its tangled web of

7:56

lies and political machinations, commanded

7:58

the headlines. Skylab,

8:01

that rocketed space station teetering

8:03

on the brink of disaster,

8:06

gobbled up the airways. And

8:09

so, amidst the cacophony,

8:12

the Shaver case, for all

8:14

its notoriety, began to fade.

8:18

Slowly, almost imperceptibly,

8:21

it was becoming yesterday's news,

8:24

a grotesque tale pushed aside by

8:27

the ever-churning gears of the world.

8:31

The air in the press

8:33

room hung thick, with a

8:35

stench of stale coffee and nervous

8:37

sweat. Stone, the state

8:40

attorney, wasn't looking much

8:42

fresher. He stood under

8:44

the harsh glare of the lights, a

8:46

man facing a hurricane with nothing but

8:49

a flimsy umbrella. The

8:52

bombshell dropped our limb. No

8:55

death penalty, even

8:57

if Shafer waltzed into court and

9:00

confessed. A collective

9:02

murmur rippled through the packed room,

9:04

the sound of a hundred pence

9:06

scratching in unison. Stone

9:09

held up a hand, his voice tight.

9:11

See, the murders were

9:14

a chronological nightmare. All

9:16

examiners couldn't pinpoint a time of

9:18

death for those girls, those

9:21

who vanished on the 27th of September, 1972,

9:23

like smoke signals in the night. Back

9:29

then, Florida's justice system was a

9:31

sunshine state with a dark secret.

9:34

No capital punishment. Murderers

9:37

got a slap on the wrist. Practically

9:40

a welcome wagon. Until

9:42

the 1st of October. Four

9:45

measly days after the girls likely

9:47

met their end, the state finally

9:49

flipped the switch on old

9:52

Sparky. A slap

9:54

in the face for the families, a

9:56

political headache for Stone himself. Stuck

9:59

between a rock kind of hard place,

10:01

you could say. The voters wanted blood.

10:04

But the law. Well, the

10:07

law was a stubborn mule sometimes.

10:11

This was just the tip of the iceberg.

10:14

Stone, wiping his brow with a crumpled

10:17

hacker chief, dropped another bombshell.

10:20

Fifteen other states were

10:22

sniffing around, their

10:24

unsolved murders and missing persons

10:27

smelling suspiciously like Schaefer's handiwork.

10:30

A dozen, maybe more cases, piling

10:33

up like bodies in a morgue.

10:36

The worst part was that nobody knew

10:38

for sure how many victims were out

10:40

there, lost and never coming

10:43

home. The

10:45

press corps scribbled furiously, vultures,

10:47

circling a carcass. This

10:50

story would have legs, a

10:52

media frenzy brewing. But

10:55

for the families of the missing, it

10:57

was a fresh hell. Years

11:00

of gnawing doubt with no answers

11:02

and no end in sight. Stone

11:05

knew this case would follow him

11:07

like a bad smell. Constant

11:10

reminder of the legal hurdles and

11:13

the human cost. It

11:15

was clear. There would

11:17

be nothing easy about this

11:19

one. While

11:22

the investigation, or investigations,

11:25

as it were, continued, Schaefer

11:27

remained in Martin County Jail.

11:30

Both the defense and the

11:32

prosecution wanted Schaefer to be

11:34

examined by psychiatrists to determine

11:36

if he was competent to

11:38

stand trial. Stone

11:41

desired only a declaration of

11:43

competence. Elton Schwartz, on

11:45

the other hand, requested that

11:47

Schaefer be sent to the state

11:49

mental hospital to determine if he

11:51

was sane enough to stand trial.

11:54

Because of the bizarre nature of

11:56

the crimes and the

11:59

subsequent finding at Shafer's mother's

12:01

Fort Lauderdale home, Judge

12:03

C. Pfeiffer Throwbridge, the

12:06

justice who would rule the case, declared

12:09

that Shafer would undergo

12:11

psychiatric examination at the

12:13

state's facility. Shafer

12:16

would be given a

12:18

30-day evaluation at the

12:20

Florida State Mental Hospital

12:22

in Chattahoochee. As

12:25

evidence mounted against Shafer, it became

12:27

clear to him and his family

12:30

that if he should stand trial,

12:32

his best defense would be a

12:34

plea of insanity. It

12:38

is these psychiatric evaluations that

12:40

are such important elements in

12:43

the bewildering case of

12:45

Gerard Shafer. Though many

12:47

of them are quite similar, it

12:49

is interesting to note how each

12:51

psychiatrist diagnosed Shafer and how he

12:54

presented himself to each doctor. Each

12:57

evaluation is only slightly different

12:59

from another. I

13:01

bring to you here, dear

13:03

listener, the evaluation by Dr.

13:05

Ogburn, in full. And

13:09

I quote. He

13:13

always described himself as a loner and

13:15

stated that he had few friends as

13:17

a child. He has

13:20

always tended to distrust other people.

13:23

He first became involved with sexual activity

13:25

about the age of puberty, 12 or

13:27

13. He

13:30

often masturbated, using women's

13:33

clothing, dressed in them. In

13:36

addition, he often tied himself to a

13:38

tree, or would allow himself to

13:40

be suspended from a tree by a rope,

13:43

either around his neck or

13:45

sometimes around his waist, and

13:48

would get sexual gratification from those.

13:51

During this time, he would have

13:53

fantasies of killing himself, and

13:56

at times, he would almost

13:58

lose consciousness. He

14:00

felt that he almost killed himself

14:02

once by these means. He

14:05

became interested in the Catholic

14:08

religion more intensively during his

14:10

teenage years and

14:12

eventually applied for the priesthood

14:15

at age 17 but was

14:17

rejected and has turned

14:19

from the church since that time.

14:22

The patient describes some

14:24

normal heterosexual sexual activity

14:26

during his teenage years,

14:30

in the past four to five years

14:32

his sexual behavior has become more of

14:34

a concern to him. He

14:37

describes killing horses and cows

14:39

with a machete and

14:41

then having sex with them later, sometimes

14:44

after cutting off their heads. He

14:47

remembers feeling invincible when he attacks

14:49

the animals and has the feeling

14:52

that he is a third person

14:54

and he is looking at himself. Mr.

14:58

Schaeffer attended college and has

15:00

received a degree BA in

15:03

social science. He also

15:05

has an associate degree in criminology.

15:09

While he was attending college,

15:11

he became increasingly concerned about

15:13

himself and his impulses and

15:16

eventually sought psychiatric help and

15:18

saw a psychiatrist on several

15:20

occasions. He was

15:23

particularly concerned about his hostile

15:25

feelings and he recalls

15:27

vague voices telling him to kill

15:29

people. However, he was

15:31

able to not respond. He

15:34

stated that at the suggestion of

15:37

the psychiatrist, he began writing

15:39

and drawing some of his fantasies. He

15:42

also began shooting and killing

15:44

inanimate objects, feeling that

15:46

these activities would help relieve some

15:48

of his feelings. He

15:51

also describes having some blackouts and

15:54

feeling disoriented and not knowing how

15:56

he got to a particular place

15:59

after he found him. himself there. Mr.

16:03

Schaeffer has had a poor work

16:05

history. He has worked some

16:07

as a guide in the Everglades. He

16:10

has also attempted to teach school.

16:12

However, this lasted only a very

16:14

short period of time. In

16:17

addition, he has worked in law

16:19

enforcement jobs. However, none of these

16:21

lasted very long. He

16:23

would eventually be involved in some

16:25

conflict, and he usually

16:28

felt he was unfairly treated. He

16:31

has been married on two occasions. His

16:34

first marriage only lasted about one year.

16:37

He states that there was

16:39

much incompatibility, primarily in

16:41

the sexual area. He

16:44

and his present wife were married in September

16:46

1971, and he states it has been a

16:48

good marriage. He

16:53

states he and his wife

16:56

have many activities which they share,

16:58

that there have been no significant

17:01

problems with the marriage, and

17:03

describes a compatible sexual

17:05

relationship. As noted

17:07

earlier, the patient's wife

17:10

was also seen to evaluate

17:12

the entire situation. She

17:15

impressed me as being a

17:17

somewhat naive 21-year-old white female

17:19

who seemed to have a

17:22

genuine positive interest in her

17:24

husband, and has been

17:26

shocked and quite dismayed and upset

17:29

over the charges. She

17:31

has considered a divorce. However,

17:33

at this time she feels

17:36

that she will stand by her husband.

17:39

She tends to deny any

17:41

particular problems with their relationship

17:43

or marriage, and the only

17:45

concern she had was at

17:47

his inability to hold a

17:49

job. However, she

17:52

has seen this as he

17:54

has been unable to find

17:56

himself. She

17:58

denies any indication of such a problem.

18:00

psychiatric illness in her husband and

18:02

has had many doubts about

18:05

the charges. However, she

18:07

felt quite concerned about the material

18:09

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20:19

The patient presented as an

20:21

alert, cooperative white male who

20:23

initially showed some reluctance to

20:26

talk, had many concerns about

20:28

the reasons for the interview. However,

20:31

as the situation was clarified,

20:34

he became more open and talked quite

20:36

freely. He tended to ramble

20:38

at times, and it

20:40

was difficult for him to always

20:43

deal with the particular issue. However,

20:45

there was no gross disorganization of

20:47

thought. There was

20:49

no evidence of delusions or

20:51

hallucinations. Although he did

20:54

describe some voices in the past telling him

20:56

to kill people. There

20:58

tended to be a paranoid trend

21:00

to his thinking, and

21:02

a tendency to mistrust and

21:05

to withdraw from people. His

21:08

affect was usually appropriate

21:10

and animated, however. On

21:12

occasion, there was noted

21:14

some inappropriate responses, particularly

21:17

when he was talking about some of his

21:19

sexual acting out and

21:21

sadistic behavior he would seem

21:24

to smile inappropriately. He

21:26

seemed to have some difficulty

21:28

in always distinguishing between the

21:30

reality of the situation and

21:33

some of the active fantasy life he

21:35

has participated in. He

21:38

was felt to be intelligent, with

21:41

reasonable judgment. He

21:43

certainly had insight into his need

21:45

for treatment and to

21:47

the bizarreness of some of his

21:49

behavior. There was

21:51

considerable ambivalence noted, particularly

21:54

in his relationship with

21:56

women, more specifically with

21:58

his mother. The

22:00

ambivalence seemed to be more

22:02

than would normally be seen

22:05

in an individual. In

22:08

summary, Mr. Schaeffer gives a

22:11

background of a very traumatic

22:13

childhood with a punitive father

22:15

and a very difficult relationship

22:17

with his mother. There

22:20

was early evidence of bizarre sexual

22:22

acting out, together with poor identity

22:24

as a man. There

22:26

is noted a schizoid type of

22:29

character with a paranoid element. For

22:32

the past few years, the

22:34

patient seems to have become

22:36

more disorganized with periods of

22:38

active fantasy life, in

22:40

which some of his behavior was very

22:43

bizarre. There has

22:45

been evidence of considerable paranoid

22:47

feelings, hostility and

22:49

anger, which erupts and

22:51

explodes with little stress. The

22:55

patient's behavior at this time and during

22:57

the interview with a consideration

22:59

of his history, appears

23:01

to be indicative of a

23:04

psychotic illness, mainly paranoid

23:06

schizophrenia. He appears

23:08

to have a very marginal

23:10

ability of tolerating normal stresses

23:13

and becomes very disturbed

23:15

with little stimulation. In

23:18

addition, there seems to be

23:20

a very active fantasy life, which

23:22

is just beneath the surface and

23:25

also is immobilized with

23:27

little stimulation. It

23:30

is noted that past examiners

23:32

have seen this patient

23:34

as representing a character

23:36

disorder and it is my

23:38

feeling, in consideration of his

23:41

background, the mental status of the

23:43

patient and a review

23:45

of the psychological evaluation done at

23:47

this hospital, that

23:50

a more appropriate diagnosis

23:52

would be paranoid schizophrenia. Recommendation.

23:56

It is my impression that this

23:58

patient will require long-term inpatient

24:00

psychiatric treatment. He

24:02

is considered to be a very

24:05

dangerous person, both to

24:07

himself and to others. Signed,

24:10

Benjamin R. Ogburn, M.D. End

24:15

quote. Before

24:19

the trial could begin to start,

24:22

the pre-trial hearings would have to

24:24

take place. This

24:26

is where time is voraciously

24:29

consumed. During this

24:31

phase, the evidence is listed

24:33

and the witness lists for

24:35

both defense and prosecution and

24:38

the motions are filed, and

24:40

this case had many. In

24:43

fact, the motions and their denials

24:45

or acceptances would take up nearly

24:48

half of the court transcripts. Additionally,

24:51

during this time, both the

24:54

prosecution and the defense were

24:56

feverishly looking for new evidence

24:59

to either help the defendant or

25:01

condemn him. After

25:04

the pre-trial hearings, motions had to

25:06

be filed and a jury was

25:08

to be selected. The

25:11

state filed, finally, saying that there

25:13

was not a death penalty in

25:15

Florida until the 8th of December

25:17

1972, according to the U.S. Supreme

25:22

Court, and that the

25:24

girls were killed on the 27th of September

25:26

1972. Therefore, they

25:30

did not have to use a grand

25:32

jury because Schaeffer had committed the capital

25:35

crime before capital

25:37

punishment was instated

25:39

in Florida. On

25:42

the 19th of September 1973, the

25:46

double murder trial of Gerard John

25:49

Schaeffer began. The

25:51

jury had been selected quickly in

25:53

just two days, which

25:55

greatly pleased Judge C.

25:58

Pfeiffer Throwbridge. He

26:00

was expected the War-d'ir

26:03

jury selection, examination to go on

26:06

for some time. There

26:08

were six jurors selected, and

26:11

alternates in case of something happening to

26:13

one of the original jurors causing him

26:15

or her to be replaced, and

26:18

they were. Julian R.

26:20

Arkin, a real estate salesman, 74

26:23

years old. His

26:25

face wrinkled as a raisin, and

26:28

almost as dark, baked by

26:30

the Florida sun. He was

26:32

intense and logical, often leaning forward

26:34

in his seat to hear every

26:36

bird spoken. Betty

26:39

P. Hall. She too was

26:41

in real estate, but at 44, she'd

26:44

also been a nurse for many years. Face

26:47

still reflected the caring yet solemn

26:50

expression of the world-weary

26:52

medical professional. She

26:54

was awed by her selection, but

26:57

confident, even appearing relaxed in

26:59

the jury box. She

27:02

was selected as Superintendent

27:04

of the Jury. Kathy

27:06

Waukley, 42. Intelligent,

27:09

soft-spoken woman. She

27:12

worked at Indian River Community College.

27:15

At times, as she

27:17

listened to testimony, particularly that

27:19

of the medical examiners, her

27:22

face drew tight to her skull.

27:25

Her collar paled. Paulette

27:28

Tompkins, a

27:30

19-year-old newlywed. At

27:32

her young age, she'd never

27:34

been called for jury duty, and

27:37

didn't particularly want the position,

27:39

yet she'd answered the questions

27:41

put forth by the

27:43

attorneys. Now,

27:45

though she was obligated to sit

27:47

through this trial, she'd rather

27:50

have been back at a soft drink

27:52

plant where she worked, or

27:54

better still, with her new husband

27:56

at home. Warren

27:59

Robleson. A 40-year-old

28:02

businessman who managed an electric

28:04

parts business. He showed

28:06

no emotions throughout the trial

28:08

except perhaps for some agitation

28:10

for having to sit

28:12

for so many hours on hardwood

28:14

seats. He would rather

28:16

have been conducting business than

28:19

sitting in a stuffy, crammed courtroom.

28:23

William J. Forbes, 30, a

28:27

former construction worker who had suffered

28:29

a back injury, thus

28:31

was forced into a new field, that

28:34

of a trainee at a savings

28:36

and loan association. Though

28:38

he was worried about losing his new position at

28:41

the bank and his injured

28:43

back, he began to ache after hours

28:45

of sitting. He did

28:47

not mind being a juror. In

28:49

fact, he had already formed opinions of

28:51

the man on trial. A

28:54

cardinal sin for a juror. He

28:57

felt it was his duty to

28:59

justice to stay on as

29:01

a juror. Later

29:03

he would become a critical element in

29:05

this case. These

29:08

six jurors, Forbes, Tyson

29:10

and Wockley had no children.

29:13

Markin had a middle-aged son.

29:16

Roblesky had two boys, 13 and 14, and Hall

29:18

was the mother of two girls, 16 and 17,

29:20

and one

29:24

boy aged 13. They

29:27

were selected from 35 candidates

29:30

that had been questioned from a list of 102

29:32

names drawn. There

29:35

were also two alternate jurors, Joanne

29:38

E. Harton, 21, a nurse's

29:41

aide, and Mildred M. Loveglio,

29:44

a mother of five children, ranging

29:47

in age from 18 to 26. The

29:50

group represented a random sampling of

29:53

people from various walks of life,

29:56

Gerard Schaeffer's peers. The

30:00

trial lasted for eight days

30:02

before closing arguments were held

30:04

by defense attorney Shailer and

30:06

prosecutor Stone. The

30:11

air hung heavy in the courtroom,

30:13

thick with cigarette smoke and the

30:15

tension that had been simmering for

30:17

weeks. Stone, his

30:19

face creased with exhaustion,

30:22

slumped back in his chair after his

30:24

closing argument. The

30:26

judge, looking tired, with

30:29

a perpetually ruffled necktie, took

30:31

over. He droned on

30:33

about murder degrees and the finer

30:35

points of juror etiquette. The

30:39

jury shuffled off to deliberate, their

30:42

faces grim under the harsh courtroom

30:44

lights. Just as

30:46

the clock struck three fifty-five, a commotion

30:49

erupted in the hallway. Apparently

30:51

someone with a heartful of misplaced

30:53

loyalty decided to call in a

30:55

bomb threat. The

30:58

jury quickly got hustled out of their room.

31:00

Thankfully, the whole thing turned out to be

31:02

a hoax, the suspicion being

31:05

that one of Shafer's friends was behind

31:07

it. After

31:10

a lengthy break for dinner, the

31:12

jury finally reconvened. Hours

31:15

crawled by like molasses in

31:17

January. Then just

31:19

past ten thirty p.m., a bailiff

31:21

went over to the judge. The

31:25

verdict was in. The

31:27

judge cleared his throat and warned

31:30

the families against any courtroom theatrics.

31:33

The tension in the room was so

31:35

thick you could cut it with a

31:37

switchblade. Here

31:40

is the transcript of what

31:42

happened next, and I quote.

31:47

The judge. All right. Bring

31:50

the jury out, please. All

31:52

right, ladies and gentlemen, have you reached

31:54

your verdict in this case? Don't

31:57

read them. Just say yes or no. Poor

32:00

woman Betty Ho. Yes,

32:02

Your Honor. The judge. All

32:05

right. Hand them to the bailiff,

32:07

please. All right. The

32:10

clerk will publish the verdict. You

32:12

may omit the captions. Just

32:14

read the body. DEPUTY

32:16

CLERK DOUGLAS DIXON As

32:20

to count one verdict, we the

32:22

jury find the defendant Gerard J.

32:24

Shaffer, Jr. guilty of murder in

32:26

the first degree. So say

32:28

we all. Dated this 27th day of

32:30

September, A.D. 1973. Signed

32:35

Betty Ho. Foreman.

32:38

As to count two verdict, we

32:40

the jury find the defendant Gerard

32:42

J. Shaffer, Jr. guilty of murder

32:45

in the first degree. So

32:47

say we all. Dated this

32:49

27th day of September, A.D. 1973. Signed

32:54

Betty Ho. Foreman. Judge

32:57

Throwbridge asked each jury

32:59

if this verdict was theirs, and

33:02

each answered, Yes, Sir.

33:06

End quote. The

33:08

verdict came at approximately the

33:10

same hour, exactly one year

33:13

before, when Susan Place and

33:15

Georgia Jessup were being murdered

33:17

on Hutchinson Island. On

33:19

the 4th of October, 1973, the

33:23

court reassembled to sentence

33:25

Gerard Shaffer. When

33:28

asked if he had anything to

33:30

say before sentencing, Shaffer

33:32

said that he, and I quote,

33:35

"...did not know those girls and

33:37

never killed anybody in my life." End

33:40

quote. But he asked the

33:42

mercy of the court to

33:44

send him to a state mental hospital

33:47

where, and again I quote his words,

33:50

"...the doctors in their wisdom, if they

33:52

can find if I did it, then

33:54

I will know it." End

33:57

quote. Judge Throwbridge

33:59

said... sentenced him to two

34:01

concurrent, served at the same

34:03

time rather than consecutive, life

34:06

sentences. Everyone

34:30

can add thoughts anonymously, online at the

34:32

same time. Correct. Next,

34:35

you need the team to act on feedback

34:37

fast, so you turn all those retro notes

34:40

into JIRA tasks instantly. Miro all the

34:42

way. And I can assign those tasks

34:44

to teammates. You're nailing this. Now,

34:47

you see hundreds of sticky notes from

34:49

the retro. A real mess. But you

34:52

organize them into five themes in just

34:54

seconds. Miro, I basically get back

34:56

an entire hour when I use its

34:58

AI tools for clustering. And

35:00

she's done it. Join over 60 million

35:03

people running actually enjoyable and actionable

35:05

retros in Miro. Get your first three

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boards free at miro.com. That's

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m-i-r-o.com. Have

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them sing your praises in their own words. And

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loving endorsement. Book, host for

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ad sponsorships with Acast. Head

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to go.acast.com/closer to

35:45

get started. After

35:52

two decades of appeals, 20 in

35:55

total, being shot down by courts,

35:58

Schaefer faded from public memory. memory. Then,

36:02

in 1990, a former

36:04

girlfriend unearthed a

36:06

chilling legacy, a

36:08

collection of Schaeffer's stories titled

36:11

Killer Fiction. More

36:14

volumes followed. While

36:16

Schaeffer claimed they were art, police

36:19

and prosecutors saw them as

36:22

thinly veiled confessions. Schaeffer's

36:26

old letters backed up

36:28

their suspicions. In a

36:30

1991 exchange with an attorney,

36:32

he referenced a story titled

36:35

Murder Demons and scoffed, and

36:37

I quote, "'What

36:39

crimes do you want me to confess? You

36:42

don't recognize them when I offer them

36:44

on a platter.'" This

36:48

wasn't the only cryptic clue. Another

36:51

letter boasted of a personal list

36:53

exceeding 80 victims, a

36:56

stark contrast to the 28 attributed

36:59

to him by authorities. Schaeffer's

37:03

luck finally ran out on the 3rd

37:05

of December, 1995. Another inmate, named Vincent

37:11

Rivera, brutally murdered him

37:13

in his cell, first

37:15

by gouging out his eyes with a

37:17

shiv and then slicing

37:20

open his throat. Schaeffer's

37:22

death would have been extremely

37:25

traumatic, rather slow

37:28

and more painful than easily

37:30

imagined. And

37:34

with that, we come to the end of

37:36

the saga of the killer cop Schaeffer. Next

37:39

episode I'll bring you a

37:41

fresh serial killer expose. So,

37:44

as they say in the land of radio,

37:46

stay tuned.