[2] In addition, he was also an active member of his church, working as a custodian and sometimes even giving sermons on the Bible to younger churchgoers,[6] and took care of his mother after his father died from cancer on April 10, 1982.
[11] Because of this, Springfield Police Chief Peter J. Herdt announced in a press conference that they were asking for help from the public in order to solve the case, hoping for the faint possibility that Fenton's killer might surrender himself.
[13] Months after Fenton's death, her mother Barbara, a member of an all-female Bible study group, said in a publicized sermon that she believed that her daughter was now with God and the man who had killed her was "very guilt-ridden" because of his actions.
[15] On April 9, 1983, 11-year-old Catherine "Katy" Cullen Richards and her friend Rachel Zeitz, also 11, were walking down Pedden Hill Road in Springfield when they noticed the same car had passed them for the third time.
Zeitz described the assailant as being in his 20s, about 6' tall, slim, with short brown hair, wore sunglasses and a distinct red-hooded sweatshirt with the number "1983" written on one sleeve, and possibly drove a light-blue Pontiac Sunbird with a dark blue roof.
The following day, Richards' partially-undressed body was found in a forested area near Springfield, showing signs of sexual assault and injuries from a blunt instrument.
One of them was James Millay Sr., a member of the local Christadelphian Church, who said that he had seen two girls matching the victims' description on Pedden Road, the same day that he had met a friend and fellow church-goer named Gary Schaefer, who had to leave services early due to a supposed illness.
At the trial, a discrepancy in police statements was corrected, as it was revealed that tha alleged offender had stopped to relieve himself at the rest area, and not to buy beer.
[23] Even before the Buxton trial had concluded, Schaefer was charged with the Richards murder, since lab results examining blood and hair samples were finally released.
[26] In the meantime, two newspapers, the Vermont-based Rutland Herald and the New Hampshire-based Valley News, filed charges against Justice Ellison, claiming that his gag order and subsequent media blackout on the trial was unconstitutional.
[27] In early October 1983, Richards' mother told the press that Schaefer had allegedly written a letter in which he confessed his responsibility for the murder of her daughter and Theresa Fenton, but was unable to provide it due to the gag order issued on the case.
[28] The following month, after undergoing a psychiatric examination conducted by doctors E. Haskell Schell Jr. and Erwin Stunkel, Schaefer was declared sane to stand trial.
[41] The trial itself was also prolonged by the fact that Ellison granted Schaefer's lawyer additional time to locate supposed witnesses which could corroborate his client's alibi.
[42] At one point, Detective Michael J. LeClair of the Windsor County Attorney's Office claimed that the Springfield police had botched the original investigations, and offered to interview Schaefer anew in relation to the Nastasia case, which was denied.
[43] In an unexpected turn of events, the psychologist who had previously examined Schaefer, Edwin Stunkel, announced that the convict suffered from multiple personality disorder.