Florida’s First Serial Killer and the Inception of the profiling Department of the FBI

On April 1, 1973 two bodies were found on South Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, Florida. They were the bodies of two teenage girls, Susan Place and Georgia Jessup, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. These young women’s bodies were found in pieces. The girls had been missing since September 23,1972 when they left Susan Place’s home with a man who was in his twenties by the name of Jerry Sheperd.

Jerry Sheperd was an alias for an ex- Martin County Florida Deputy Sheriff by the name of Gerard Schaefer. In September 1972 he had been convicted of one count of aggravated assault on two other teenage girls from Michigan. This is how the story unraveled.

Gerard Schaefer a Martin County Deputy saw Nancy Trotter and Susan Wells hitchhiking to Jensen Beach, a popular hangout for the young crowd on a lazy summer afternoon in July 1972. The two young women had hitchhiked from Michigan for a few days of fun in the sun. When Schaefer saw them he was in his patrol car and he told them that hitchhiking in the state of Florida was illegal. It was not at that time. He told them that if he saw them out the next day he would take them where ever they wanted to go.

The next day arrived and Schaefer found the two young women. He picked them up and instead of taking them to the beach as promised he took them to a remote part of Hutchinson Island. He bound them, gagged them and hung them. Then he left them.

Nancy Trotter and Susan Wells were the lucky ones. After Schaefer left they got away. When Schaefer returned to the scene of the crime- he called his boss Sheriff Crowder and explained that he had done a bad thing. Sheriff Crowder found the two girls and took them back to the dept for a statement. In the meantime Schaefer was arrested and charged. He was also fired.

When Schaefer appeared before the judge to answer for his crimes in September he said he had done nothing wrong. That he only wanted to teach the two girls a lesson. Because he had no priors he was given six months in jail and put on probation. The judge also allowed him to remain free on his own recon until he had to report for his sentence in Jan.

While Schaefer was out on bond, Susan Place, Georgia Jessup, and four other girls disappeared. Susan and Georgia were the two found in April 1973. The bodies had been bound, gagged, hung, tortured, raped, and when they were finally dead buried. But that was not all he did. He came back time after time to commit sex acts with the dead bodies. When they were too bloated to continue to have sex with he hacked their bodies into pieces.

Arm bone found at Blind Creek.

Susan Place’s jawbone found at crime scene.

As the story continued to unfold, it was discovered that Gerard Schaefer had killed as few as nine and as many as thirty four females between 1966 and 1973. He was given the distinct title of “Serial Killler.” At that time no one knew what a serial killer was. There was no way to connect the dots in most cases. Sure it had been going on since Jack the Ripper. But law enforcement had no way to really connect cases.

FBI Agent Roy Hazelwood took the Schaefer case and used it to build the FBI profiling department. He knew there had to be a common thread when murders occurred more than once and with the same MO. Roy studied not only Gerard Schaefer’s case but the cases of several more killers to show there is a common thread and that a serial killer can be found based on that thread.

Serial killers each have their own quirks. One may look for victims with long blond hair. Another for long legs. Still another may look like the killer’s mom. In Schaefer’s case he looked for women who were either hitchhiking, or looked like “whores” to him. He felt that they wanted to be taken out of their wicked and dead end life.

Some of the bodies have never been found. And Schaefer was only convicted of the two deaths of Georgia Jessup and Susan Place.

Clinton R. Van Zandt is the Founder and President of Van Zandt Associates Inc. During his 25-year career in the FBI, Mr. Van Zandt was a Supervisor in the FBI’s internationally renowned Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He was also the FBI’s Chief Hostage Negotiator and in his current position, was the leader of the analytical team recognized with identifying the “Unabomber.” Mr. Van Zandt accurately profiled Oklahoma City Federal Building Bomber Timothy McVeigh on the day of that fateful bombing. He is a recognized expert on many topics including the review of written and oral communications, workplace violence issues, hostage and kidnap negotiations and survival techniques, international and domestic terrorism, personality assessments and behavioral profiling, and authorship identification techniques.

Bounty Hunter: “Casey will talk once released and has her nails done…”

Where are the Clowns

Leonard Padilla, the convicted felon turned bounty hunter turned television personality, “I’m already famous” as he stated on television, believes that he can get 22-year-old Casey Anthony to tell what happened to her missing 3-year-old daughter Caylee once he secures her release from the Orange County, Florida, jail. Padilla, a Kinky Friedman look-alike who describes himself as “a media whore,” continues to work with his nephew Tony, a California bail bondsman; as well as with a local Florida bondsman to put up the cash needed to meet Casey’s one-half million dollar bail. Their efforts in this matter have failed so far to gain the release of the woman described by friends as a “pathological liar,” someone who investigators believe holds the only key to what happened to young Caylee, a key she won’t give up.

Although many suspect that Padilla’s efforts are more related to his own continued fame, e.g., a reality TV show based upon his bounty hunter activities, than ultraistic in nature, as a former FBI Agent I always looked at a missing persons case, especially one related to a child, as a search for a live victim unless evidence suggested otherwise. Padilla, for example, has speculated that Caylee could be held by unknown persons due to a drug deal gone bad. In a television appearance with Padilla, I suggested that should this be the case, the existence of a $225,000 reward for the child’s return could support a scenario where the “kidnappers” could come forward to claim the reward, this by indicating that Casey had given them the child almost three months ago, told them to keep her for 90 days and then returned the child to her grandparents. The “kidnappers” could then claim the reward and rid themselves of the burden of caring for Caylee, something Padilla quickly agreed with and then used as his own idea on a subsequent TV talk show.

 

Caylee was Kidnapped

Statistically speaking, Padilla’s kidnap scenario has little support among investigators, noting that Padilla himself has suggested that Casey only drank alcohol and smoked marijuana, “vices” unlikely to have facilitated a child kidnapping, especially by a baby sitter that police believe to be non-existent. A more likely scenario to explain the child’s missing status and Casey’s many lies to investigators could include Caylee’s accidental death, this due either to neglect or some other action on the part of Casey. It has been reported that when Casey and Caylee left the residence they shared with Casey’s parents, this apparently to move in with Casey’s new boy friend, that neither the boy friend or their friends had any contact with Caylee during the 30 days she was away from her grandparents, nor did anyone report that Casey appeared to be conducting her own frantic search for her “missing” daughter. Most have seen the salacious pictures allegedly taken of Casey partying in bars during the month she said she was looking for her daughter, hardly reflecting the actions of a parent desperately looking for her missing child.

 

The CSI Investigation

Forensic evidence is usually the “gold standard” in high profile cases, and this case could be no different. It’s been reported that forensic investigators seized approximately 30 items of potential evidentiary value from the vehicle driven and abandoned by Casey Anthony around the time her daughter allegedly disappeared, including suspected bodily fluid, strands of hair and dirt. DNA analysis will determine if the suspect fluid or the strands of hair are genetically identical to the DNA of Casey as well as the possible origin of the dirt from the car’s trunk. On July 17 cadaver dogs allegedly “hit” on the trunk, indicating the possibility that a dead body had been transported in the car, something that Casey’s mother had originally reported herself. The dirt could be related to the time period including June 18-20 when Casey allegedly borrowed a shovel from a neighbor and was seen backing her car into her parents garage. While the media waits with bated breath for the results of the forensic tests, investigators are obviously under no obligation to report such results and may believe that public knowledge of the test results could be counterproductive for their investigation.

I doubt that Padilla’s theory that once released from jail and after having her nails done that Casey will dig herself out from under the mountain of lies she has told and tell Padilla, perhaps in some type of “Perry Mason moment” what she has so far refused to tell investigators; the location of her daughter. Should Casey be released on August 21^st, she will be confined to her parent’s residence and required to wear “Martha Steward ankle jewelry,” i.e., an electronic device that will alert authorities if she leaves her home in violation of the terms of her release from jail. Padilla also advises that he or an associate will reside in the Anthony home to monitor Casey’s compliance with her bail, something that’s hard to believe that the Anthony’s, or their attorney, will allow to happen.

What’s more Important…

In the meantime Padilla’s insertion of himself into this matter has changed it from a two-ring to a three-ring circus, and once again places attention on someone other than the missing child. Casey has questioned why people are more concerned with her missing daughter than with her; this while some believe that her mother has gone out of her way to seek her own form of personal attention. While it appears unlikely that Casey will eventually get “the mother of the year award” as suggested by her mother Cindy, and the likelihood that Casey has reportedly kept her silence to protect her daughter and family further diminishes, investigators are left expending hundreds of hours searching for a child simply because the mother won’t talk. And when Casey’s attorney says he has advised Casey not to talk, this in the face of a missing child investigation, we are all left to question the tattered state of a criminal justice system that places the narcissism of adults above the life of a child.

Meanwhile, the investigation continues…

Clint Van Zandt

 

There are lots of tricks of the trade to make police work go a little easier. Here’s a few of those unusual little gadgets.

 

Handcuff key with built-in light source. Anyone who has tried to unlock a pair of cuffs in the dark will definitely appreciate this item.

 

Double flex cuffs. Extra wide to avoid cutting into a suspect’s wrists.

 

Flex cuff cutter.

 

Flex cuff cutter.

 

Breaching sledge used for tactical entry during search warrant service. This tool is a combination sledge hammer and pry bar. The handle is electrically non-conductive in case a strike contacts electrical wires.

 

Mobile home door breacher for prying open those pesky metal doors. Remember, mobile home doors always open out. You can’t kick them in or use a battering ram.

 

Seat belt cutter used to quickly release trapped passengers.

 

Tactical hydration vest for long missions. Officers drink from the attached hose and bite valve.

 

Resister gloves with Kevlar lining for protection against sharp objects.

 

Detective Sandra Joyce Bullock, 59

Bushnell Florida Police Department

 

On Tuesday, August 5, 2008, Detective Bullock was killed when her police vehicle was struck head-on by a motorist who pulled into her lane while attempting to pass another car.

Deputy Sheriff Dennis Compton, 39

Colleton County South Carolina Sheriffs Office

 

On August 6, 2008, Deputy Compton was shot and killed by a suspect who still remains at large.

Deputy Compton leaves behind a wife an four children. He had faithfully served his department for 16 months.

Trooper Shawn W. Snow, 47

New York State Police

Trooper Snow was electrocuted while assisting with a tire change on a fire truck. The truck’s ladder contacted power lines while the two men worked on the tire . Trooper Snow and the driver were both killed instantly.

Trooper Snow was a 19 year veteran. He is survived by his wife and children.

 

An entertainment journalist for fifteen years, Alison Gaylin is the Edgar nominated author of HIDE YOUR EYES, its sequel YOU KILL ME, TRASHED and the upcoming HEARTLESS (due out in September.) TRASHED – which focuses on a reluctant supermarket tabloid reporter who uncovers a grisly series of Hollywood murders – just came out in paperback.

FATAL OBSESSION

When I was just out of college, I was a reporter for The Star. At the time, it was not the glossy celebrity rag you see today, but a down-and-dirty supermarket tabloid that tried every week to out-scoop The National Enquirer and The Globe.

I based my book TRASHED on my experience at The Star.

 

As anyone who has read the book might gather, I did spend a fair amount of time sneaking on to movie sets and into plastic surgeons’ waiting rooms, staking out celebrity homes, crashing weddings and funerals and, yes, raiding the garbage cans of the rich and famous.

But here’s something you might not know: Just as often, I was in the L.A. courthouse, interviewing lawyers, cops and forensic experts.

Celebrity and crime intersected frequently, usually with tragic results. There were the drug stories, of course – the arrests, the substance-related violence, the shocking overdoses. There were the crimes of passion – spousal abuse and date rape and murder. But the crime stories that seemed unique to celebrity – and the ones I found the most fascinating and scary to write – centered around obsessed fans. Unbalanced types who fell in love with stars – and who retaliated in terrifying ways when they learned their feelings were not reciprocated.

When I first came to work at The Star, a young actress named Rebecca Schaeffer had just been killed by an obsessed fan, Robert Bardo. Murderously jealous after seeing her in bed with a man in the movie, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, Bardo hired a private investigator, who obtained her address for him by contacting the California Department of Motor Vehicles. After getting her autograph, Bardo returned to her door, rang the bell, and when she answered somewhat exasperated, he shot her point blank.

Rebecca Schaeffer’s death spawned stalking laws in California, which made it more difficult to obtain addresses of strangers — but that type of fatal attraction (the technical term for it is erotomania) didn’t go away. During the nine months I was at The Star, I covered a slew of celebrity stalkings, and became so fascinated with the phenomenon I wrote my master’s thesis on obsessed fans a year later, at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism.

TRASHED focuses on a Hollywood murderer, but not a classic obsessed fan. In an early draft, I did have a subplot involving one. But when the character became so strong he started to run off with my plot, I had to pull him out, give him a sex change and turn him into Myra Wurtz – the deranged (or is she?) protagonist of my short story, CHERISH, which can be found in the anthology A HELL OF A WOMAN on Busted Flush press.

In its pure form, I have always found the relationship between star and fan to be sort of poignant — the fan is completely focused on a person who doesn’t know her from a hole in the wall. She expects nothing more than a face on a screen, a voice on the radio, a poster on her bedroom wall. And though the star doesn’t know her by name or face, he needs her, he seeks out her support. It takes so little, though, for that harmless relationship to turn ugly.

Instances of erotomania continue, and I hate to say it, but I’m part of the problem. As entertainment journalists, our job is to give you those close-up photos, those intimate secrets… to make readers feel like they really know the stars The more contact an unbalanced person is given with a celeb, the closer they are allowed to feel, the more likely they are to assume a relationship that doesn’t exist… and then tragically, we find ourselves covering yet another stalking story.