There’s no denying that Gerard Schaefer was a disturbed man. Right from his childhood he had indulged in activities such as killing animals, stealing women’s panties, cross dressing, even going as far as spying on neighborhood girls.
After a failed attempt at teaching, and being turned down for priesthood, Schaefer somehow managed to join the law enforcement and by 1971, was a Deputy Sheriff for the Martin County Police Department, Florida.
While on patrol in July, 1972, Schaefer picked up two teenage girls who were hitchhiking and took them to a remote area where he proceeded to tie them to a tree and threatened to kill them. However, duty called and he had to leave but ensured the two girls that he would return. While Schaefer was gone the two girls managed to escape their ties and went straight to the police station and explained what happened. Schaefer was soon called back to the station where he was faced with trying to explain the situation. He said he was simply just trying to scare the girls out of ever hitchhiking again, but his boss did not believe him and stripped him of his badge, as well as charging him with assault and false imprisonment for which he was placed on bail for. During this time, Schaefer abducted, tortured and murdered two teenage girls, Susan Place (17) and Georgia Jessup (16) and buried their bodies nearby.
Later that year, Schaefer was sent to jail for one year for the assault of the two girls he attempted to abduct in July.
During the time he was in prison, the bodies of the two girls he had murdered were found and it was apparent that they had been tied to a tree at some point, they were also hitchhiking when they went missing. The similarities led police to gain a search warrant to Schaefers home and upon a search of his bedroom, found stories he had written about torturing and raping women. If that wasn’t disturbing enough, further inspection found personal possessions such as diaries, jewelry and even teeth of at least 8 young girls who had gone missing in the area, including that of Leigh Bonadies who was Schaefers neighbor when they were kids, one of which he was accused of spying on. Also, a purse was found in his possession, which was later identified as belonging to Susan Place.
Schaefer was soon charged with the murders of Place and Jessup, and in October, 1973 he was given two life sentences for the crimes as well as being believed to be linked to the murders of 30 more women.
In December, 1995, Schaefer was found dead in his cell after being stabbed multiple times by a fellow inmate.
