Episode Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

Trick or Treat Tragedy - Episode Notes:

A killer used his friendship to lure in a little girl to her death. In doing so, he killed not just one girl, but the spirit of Halloween.

Halloween night 1973, 9-year-old Lisa French wanted to wear a butterfly costume, but her mother convinced her to wear something a bit warmer for the Fond du lac, Wisconsin weather. Lisa ended up dressing like a hobo.

After eating dinner, she ran out of the door and started to trick-or-treat. She made plans to meet up with her friend and go to the Pumpkin Place, a safe area some of the parents had put together for the children. But her friend had gotten in trouble and wasn’t allowed to go. Lisa was left to go out alone.

She only made it to three houses that night. The first two, a teacher and a classmate’s homes. They her candy and sent her on her way. The third held more sinister motives.

Gerald Miles Turner Jr, would open that third door for Lisa and invite her inside.

A Killer Lures His Victim

Turner used to share a duplex with Lisa’s family, so she knew him quite well. When he lived next door, she was fond of talking with him. So nothing would have seemed strange for him to invite her inside that night.

After he had Lisa inside, he took her back to his bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her. He claimed that at some point, he realized she wasn’t breathing and tried to resuscitate her. But his girlfriend came home and interrupted him. So he put socks on his hands and moved Lisa’s body into the master bathroom to deal with later.

He went out wrapped in a bathrobe, telling his girlfriend he didn’t feel well. While she was there, he kept returning to the bedroom, was he revisiting Lisa’s body?

His girlfriend ended up leaving again to go to her mother’s. After she left is when Turner put Lisa’s body in a trash bag and her belongings in another. He took both bags a few miles out of town and dumped them in a field.

Something was Wrong

Lisa was to be home by 7 pm, and when she didn’t return, her mother started to worry. By the time 10 pm arrived, the neighborhood had already begun searching for the little girl.

The neighborhood rallied together, posting signs in their windows, telling others that Lisa was missing. Police started a search party that lasted all night. The next day over 5,000 people joined in and widened the search area.

The national guard was called in, and private plane owners volunteered to search from the sky. All-terrain vehicles drove through the marshes, creeks, and fields. All the bodies of water around town had been dragged.

A local photoshop printed 6,000 copies of Lisa’s school photo that was passed around and posted throughout town. Gas stations were giving free gas to anyone using a vehicle to search for Lisa.

The Outcome No One Wanted

Eventually, a farmer on his tractor found two garbage bags on his property. He stopped and inspected them, finding the body of Lisa French.

When the news circulated that Lisa had been found dead, the whole community seemed to mourn her loss. They all came out in support of her family for the funeral.

Myron Medin Jr spoke to the mourners who had gathered. “We are here . . . the entire city in spirit is here . . . to share your sorrow.”

Turner had been questioned starting the day after Lisa had been reported missing. By elimination, they could prove she had gone to two homes before coming to his, then no one else had seen her. At first, he denied any involvement.

The Pressure was too Much

But finally, after nine months of being pulled in for questioning, he cracked and confessed. He would change his story during the trial, saying he only confessed to stop the police from harassing him, that he was completely innocent.

During the trial, the medical examiner testified about the cause of death. Lisa French died from asphyxiation. But she wasn’t smothered or strangled. She had died due to shock while she was sexually assaulted.

The jury found Turner guilty of second-degree murder, enticing a child for immoral purposes and acts of sexual perversion.

Robert Owens, the chief psychologist at Taycheedah Correctional Institute, had met with Turner. “He has a cold disregard for people, mainly females. He does not have conscience control to inhibit his impulses for pleasure and to conform to society’s laws.”
During his sentencing, Circuit Court Judge Milton saw Turner for who he was. “He impressed me as showing no remorse . . . no feeling of repentance.”

Continues to Prove Himself Unfit for Society

After everything he did, and with a total lack of remorse, Turner was paroled in 1992 after serving only 17 years. He went to live at a halfway house.

Outrage erupted that this killer was back on the streets so soon. The citizens of Fond du lac brought a civil lawsuit for releasing Turner. They said the state erred in how they calculated his mandatory release date.

Turner was put back in prison when the state admitted their error. He was then set to be released in 1994. This time the state sought to have him held in a secure mental institute instead of being released.

In 1998 Turner got his day in court again. This time fighting for his right to be freed, claiming he was not a sexual predator and should not be held in a mental institute. A jury agreed and set him free.

While out free, he lived at another halfway house. But when a routine check of his computer in 2003 showed it was filled with pornographic and sexually explicit videos that violated his parole conditions, he was sent back to prison.

Currently, Turner is being considered for parole again. But I think it’s already been proven that he will not follow the rules. If he’s re-released, how long until he finds another young victim?

Article Source : Medium - By Lisa Marie Fuqua