The Christadelphian

Gary Lee Schaefer was a car mechanic in Springfield, Vermont, who belonged to the small Christadelphian church. Between 1979 and 1983 three Springfield girls were killed. Sherry Nastasia, 13, disappeared on August 28, 1979, after getting into a dark green car, possibly a Firebird; her remains were found that December. Theresa Fenton, 12, was abducted on a bike ride on August 29, 1981, and died of a beating two days later.

In November 1982 a man picked up 17-year-old Deana Buxton in Chester and threatened her with a shotgun; she escaped when he stopped at a store. On April 9, 1983, 11-year-old Catherine “Katy” Richards was walking with her friend Rachel Zeitz when a car that had circled them several times pulled up. Rachel got away, and Katy was found dead the following day. A church leader said the sketch resembled Schaefer and had seen him driving nearby, and a red Christadelphian sweatshirt matching Rachel’s description turned up at his home. He was arrested on April 11.

In December 1983 Schaefer pleaded no contest in the Richards killing and the Buxton case, and in January 1984 was sentenced to 30 years to life. He confessed to killing Theresa but had been granted immunity. A charge in Sherry’s death was dropped after a judge threw out a hypnosis-based confession. He died in a Kentucky prison on November 26, 2023, at 72.