When Sophia Maynard arrived on the morning of April 16, 1992 for her traditional shift as a clerk at Brittany’s Card & Reward Shoppe in Agawam, Massachusetts, she was instantly struck by one thing odd.
Her coworker Lisa Ziegert’s automobile was nonetheless within the parking zone — although Lisa was scheduled to shut up the night time earlier than.
Maynard was much more unnerved after she discovered the shop unlocked with the lights on and Lisa’s purse nonetheless sitting behind the counter, but there no signal of Lisa herself.
“I used to be fairly panicked at that time. I knew one thing clearly occurred to her,” Maynard instructed Correspondent Andrea Canning in Dateline: Unforgettable. “My first intuition was to run and name the police.”
It didn’t take lengthy for Agawam Police lead detective Wayne Macey, now retired, to find out that one thing horrible had occurred to the 24-year-old.
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Investigators found {that a} door within the quaint card store had what regarded like a heel mark on it, suggesting it might need been kicked in throughout a violent wrestle. In a backroom, bins have been flattened down and there was blood on some.
“We began an instantaneous search of the encircling space. Dumpster areas, again alley areas — this was sort of a strip mall kind space,” Macey recalled.
What Macey didn’t know then was that it might take 27 years to unravel the thriller of what occurred to Lisa that fateful night time and finally bring her killer to justice.
“We inform numerous tragic tales on Dateline, however in some ways I discover probably the most heartbreaking are those that go unsolved for years, just like the homicide of Lisa Ziegert,” Canning stated of why the case stood out to her. “It might take dozens of investigators, lots of of DNA samples and 1000’s of witness statements over the course of a long time to lastly study the reality. And when that reply got here, the individuals who cared about Lisa would transfer ahead in ways in which encourage me to at the present time.”
Who was Lisa Ziegert?
Lisa was described by those that knew her as a bubbly center college instructor’s aide with an infectious chortle who beloved artwork and dancing.
“We’d exit, , to golf equipment and we’d hearken to music and dance and she or he had her favorites, but when we have been in a automobile even driving and a track got here on that she beloved she would pull over to the facet of the street right into a parking zone and simply flip up the radio and get out and dance,” pal Kim Murray recalled.
At 24, Lisa had a full life with a close-knit relationship along with her household, devoted boyfriend and huge group of associates. Other than working on the center college — the place her brother David Ziegert stated children beloved her “silliness” — she additionally labored part-time at Brittany’s Card & Reward Shoppe.
Lisa Ziegert’s Physique Discovered
Shortly earlier than she disappeared, the normally carefree Lisa instructed Murray one night time on the store that she had the eerie feeling she was being watched.
Then, on April 15, 1992, someday between 8:30 p.m. and eight:50 p.m. Lisa, who was working alone, disappeared in the midst of her shift.
“There was an assault that passed off within the retailer to realize some sort of management over Lisa,” Macey stated. “There was additionally a facet door and the facet door led to an alley and so they in all probability went out the facet and simply pulled the automobile out and left from there.”
A number of days later, on Easter Sunday, somebody out strolling their canine stumbled upon Lisa’s physique in a wooded space. She was partially clothed, had defensive wounds on her palms, and there have been apparent indicators of sexual assault. A health worker would later decide she died from a number of stab wounds to the neck.
Macey made the grim journey to inform her devastated household.
“I went all the way down to my knees,” her mother, Dee Ziegert, remembered. “It was one thing I actually didn’t anticipate to listen to.”
The Investigation into Lisa Ziegert’s Demise
Within the days and months that will observe, investigators spent tireless days and nights monitoring down leads and interviewing potential suspects.
Detectives have been in a position to rapidly rule out Lisa’s boyfriend after confirming his alibi and figuring out that his DNA didn’t match the DNA left behind on Lisa’s physique by the killer. Additionally they used DNA testing to eradicate different shut male associates or acquaintances.
Through the years, authorities enlisted the assistance of FBI profilers, obtained the case featured on Unsolved Mysteries and tracked down 1000’s of ideas.
Detectives talked to a number of ladies who suspected their boyfriends or husbands of finishing up the grisly crime, together with an legal professional representing Joyce Schara.
Joyce instructed her legal professional, Kevin Healy, that she suspected her estranged husband, Gary Schara, could have carried out the homicide.
“Any time any information got here out, she stated that he could be glued to the tv,” Healy stated. “He wanted to know each single little element concerning the homicide and the progress of the case catching the assassin.”
Joyce additionally knew that Gary had been unaccounted for in the course of the time of the homicide and returned house late that night time with scratches on his palms and no clarification for his whereabouts.
However Gary’s legal professional claimed the couple have been going by means of a nasty divorce and custody battle on the time and instructed police her claims have been simply a part of a set as much as achieve the higher hand within the negotiations. Her credibility was additionally known as into query as others described her as an alcoholic.
“At this level, we take it so far as we will and barring anything coming in, we don’t have sufficient to get a search warrant or a subpoena to get Gary in and have him give us his DNA,” Macey stated.
Who killed Lisa Ziegert?
For many years, detectives continued to research the perplexing case till they lastly obtained the assistance they wanted by means of advances in DNA know-how.
Authorities despatched the DNA pattern they collected on the crime scene to a lab who carried out DNA phenotyping to find out bodily traits of the killer. From that, they have been in a position to study that the killer had brown hair, brown eyes and was of European ancestry.
Utilizing that description, detectives went by means of numerous recordsdata to tug out the doable suspects who match that description and had declined to offer DNA up to now. In 2017, a grand jury voted to compel 11 suspects within the case to provide their DNA.
Gary was one of many males on that checklist. Through the years, Gary had been repeatedly interviewed by authorities. He was at all times well mannered and answered their questions, however refused to offer a DNA pattern, citing considerations about cloning.
Now, with a court docket order in hand, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Noah Pack went to go to Gary. He wasn’t house, however Pack left a message along with his roommate that he had some necessary paperwork to ship to Gary.
Gary by no means reached out, however the subsequent night time his girlfriend confirmed up on the state police barracks with three letters Gary had left behind for her on the home.
In them, Gary confessed to abducting, raping, and killing Lisa.
“I had no intention of killing her once I grabbed her, however occasions spun out of my management,” he wrote, including that he’d had “abduction and bondage” fantasies since he was younger.
He additionally left a observe of apology for the Ziegert household.
“I can by no means apologize sufficient for taking your daughter and sibling from you,” he wrote. “I’ve regretted it and hated myself each day since.”
What occurred to Gary Schara?
Investigators rushed to trace down Gary, who was discovered at a Connecticut hospital after taking a considerable amount of capsules.
He was arrested and charged with first-degree homicide within the decades-old case.
Though he initially pleaded not responsible, Schara modified his plea in 2019 to responsible. He was sentenced to life behind bars with out the possibility of parole.
After 27 years, his conviction lastly introduced a measure of closure to her household and the detectives who’d tirelessly labored on the case for years.
Macey — who usually went to the cemetery to speak to Lisa in the course of the investigation — introduced a single rose to her grave stone after Schara was caught.
“I put a card on it. It simply stated ‘Lisa, it’s achieved. Relaxation in peace,’” Macey stated whereas struggling to carry again tears. “And I put it on her stone. And it was achieved.”
