Bio

Gary Lee Schaefer was born in 1951 in Vermont. He grew up in a family that was part of the Christadelphian Church, a small Christian denomination. This background was a significant part of his early life.

As a young man, Schaefer joined the Navy. However, during his time there, he faced legal problems. He was charged with arson and possession of illegal drugs. When these charges came up, he pleaded insanity. Doctors in the Navy evaluated him and declared him competent to stand trial. After leaving the Navy, he managed to convince his friends and family that he was normal and okay, even as dark thoughts lingered in his mind.

Schaefer had a quiet personality, but underlying issues stuck with him. These struggles became more serious over time. He moved to Springfield, Vermont, where he started managing an apartment complex. The complex was owned by his brother, and this is where some events began to unfold that would change his life forever.

In the years that followed, Schaefer began to engage in violent crimes. He became known for harmful actions that were deeply tied to his past and personal issues, leading to several tragedies. These actions marked the beginning of a darker chapter in his life.

Murder Story

In 1979, Gary Lee Schaefer committed his first murder. He kidnapped, raped, and killed 13-year-old Sherry Nastasia in Springfield, Vermont. The crime went unnoticed for some time, but two years later, in 1981, he struck again. Schaefer kidnapped, raped, and murdered another girl named Theresa Fenton.

In 1982, Schaefer attacked 17-year-old Deana Buxton, but she managed to escape. Her description of Schaefer helped police focus their investigation on him. Despite this, they lacked enough evidence to arrest him at that time.

On April 9, 1983, Schaefer kidnapped another young girl, Catherine Richards. He took her to a remote area, where he forced her to perform sexual acts before murdering her. He crushed her skull with a stone. Her body was discovered the next day. Eyewitnesses linked the abductor to Schaefer, matching descriptions from Deana Buxton's previous attack.

Police were close to arresting Schaefer in September 1983. The mother of Catherine Richards wrote an open letter to Schaefer, accusing him of the murders and urging him to confess. This letter seemed to have an effect. Schaefer eventually confessed to the murders of Fenton and Richards, as well as to the rape of Buxton.

In December 1983, he entered a guilty plea for kidnapping, sexual assault, and second-degree murder in the Richards case. The charge for Fenton's murder was dropped in a plea deal. In January 1984, Schaefer was sentenced to a punishment of 30 years to life in prison. He was to serve this sentence at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.