Charles Schmid

Charles Howard Schmid, Jr. (July 8, 1942 – March 30, 1975), also known as the Pied Piper of Tucson, was an American serial killer whose crimes were detailed by journalist Don Moser in an article featured in the March 4, 1966, issue of ''Life'' magazine. Schmid's criminal career later formed the basis for "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", a short story by Joyce Carol Oates. In 2008, The Library of America selected Moser's article for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of American true crime literature.

Early life

Charles Schmid was an illegitimate child who was adopted by Charles and Katharine Schmid, owners and operators of Hillcrest Nursing Home in Tucson, Arizona. He had a difficult relationship with his adoptive father, whom his adoptive mother later divorced. When Schmid tried to meet his birth mother, she angrily told him never to come back.

Schmid did poorly in school, but was described as good-looking, intelligent and well-mannered. An accomplished athlete, he excelled at gymnastics and even led his high school to a state championship, but quit the team in his senior year. Just before graduating, Schmid was suspended for stealing tools from the school's machine shop; he never returned to school.

Schmid began living in his own quarters on his parents' property and received an allowance of $300 a month. His parents left him to run on his own with a new car and a motorcycle.

Schmid was called the " Pied Piper" because he was charismatic and had many friends in Tucson's teenaged community. For a time, the members of his teenage would keep the secrets of his murders. His best friends were John Saunders, Richie Bruns, and Paul Graff, the latter of whom lived with him. He spent much of his time on Tucson's Speedway Boulevard, picking up girls and drinking with friends, although he tended to be a loner.

Schmid was a short man who wore cowboy boots stuffed with newspapers and flattened cans to make him appear taller. He used lip balm, pancake makeup and created an artificial mole on his cheek. He also stretched his lower lip with a clothespin to make it resemble Elvis Presley's.

Murders

On May 31, 1964, Schmid decided to murder Alleen Rowe, a high school student living with her divorced mother. His girlfriend, Mary French, had persuaded Rowe to go out with Saunders, but Schmid had intended all along to murder Rowe in order to know what it felt like to kill someone. Schmid and his friends took Rowe to the desert, where Schmid and Saunders killed her. Before murdering Rowe, Schmid instructed Saunders to rape her, but he couldn't do it. While the murder occurred, French was waiting in the car and listening to the radio. Afterwards the three buried her.

One of Schmid's many girlfriends was Gretchen Fritz, daughter of a prominent Tucson heart surgeon and community leader. Schmid confided to Fritz that he had murdered Rowe. There were also rumors that Fritz knew of an earlier, unsubstantiated murder that Schmid supposedly committed. When he decided to break up with Fritz, she threatened to use the information against him. Schmid strangled Fritz and her sister Wendy on August 16, 1965.

Schmid confided to Bruns that he murdered the sisters and showed him the bodies, buried haphazardly in the desert. Bruns became increasingly afraid that Schmid was going to murder his girlfriend. Ultimately, Bruns fled to Ohio because his girlfriend's parents were convinced that he was harassing her. Bruns stayed with his grandparents and told them everything he knew about the murders, and flew back to Tucson to help with the investigation.

Trial

The mid-1960s, media focused their attention on the Schmid case and trial. ''Life'' and ''Playboy'' magazines sent reporters to cover the proceedings. ''Time'' did features on contemporary life in Tucson and the murders of the young women. F. Lee Bailey, a celebrity attorney who was involved with the Boston Strangler and Sam Sheppard cases of the 1950s and 1960s, was brought in for consultation.

In 1966, Schmid was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. When the state of Arizona temporarily abolished capital punishment in 1971, Schmid's sentence was commuted to fifty years in prison. After Schmid's trial and conviction, his adoptive mother and her second husband had owed her son's legal team more money than they possessed. As a result, they ended up living in near poverty in Coolidge, Arizona.

After incarceration

Schmid attempted to escape from prison multiple times, finally succeeding on November 11, 1972, when he and another triple murderer, Raymond Hudgens, escaped from Arizona State Prison. They held four hostages on a ranch near Tempe for a time, ate at a Sonic, then separated, and were finally recaptured and returned to prison.

In the early 1970s, Schmid became interested in poetry. He sent his work from prison to a professor at the University of Arizona, Richard Shelton. "For all the wrong reasons, I critiqued his work and discovered that he was quite talented," Shelton later said.

Death

On March 10, 1975, Schmid was stabbed 47 times by two fellow prisoners. After losing an eye and a kidney, he died from his injuries on March 30, 1975. His body was stolen from the morgue but recovered by police. Schmid's mother chose the prison cemetery for his burial, believing his tombstone would be defaced if he were buried in a public cemetery. He received a Catholic funeral at the prison, although he was not in the casket.

Books and media

In 1966, Joyce Carol Oates published the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", about a teenage girl being charmed and menaced by a predatory man; she was inspired in part by the Schmid case. The story is dedicated to Bob Dylan because Oates was also inspired by his song "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." The story was adapted into a 1985 film ''Smooth Talk'', in which Schmid's character, Arnold Friend, is played by Treat Williams.

In 1970 John Gilmore published ''The Tucson Murders'', through Dial Press, New York, a hardcover nonfiction true crime detailing the life and crimes of Charles Schmid, the "notorious pied piper of Tucson". John Gilmore was sent at first by Playboy magazine to do a story on the trial, but after an introduction to Schmid's wife, he managed to meet Charles Schmid and get the exclusive rights to a book. He was in close contact with him and his family during the whole trial.

The 1971 movie ''The Todd Killings'' is based on the Schmid case, as was the 1994 film ''Dead Beat'' and the 2005 film ''The Lost'', adapted from a novel by Jack Ketchum.

Actress Rose McGowan's 2014 directorial debut, ''Dawn'', was inspired by the events surrounding the murder of Alleen Rowe. It stars Tara Lynne Barr in the role of Dawn Rowe, Hannah Marks as Mary French and Reiley McClendon as Schmid.

The young adult thriller ''Half in Love with Death'' (Merit Press 2015) by Emily Ross was inspired by the Schmid case.

'' A Crime to Remember'' portrayed the case in the 2014 episode "The Pied Piper".

''I, a Squealer: The Insider's Account of the "Pied Piper of Tucson" Murders'' by Richard Bruns is a first-hand account of the murders by Schmid's childhood friend whose information resulted in Schmid's arrest and conviction.

See also

* List of serial killers in the United States

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Charles
1942 births
1964 murders in the United States
1975 deaths
1975 murders in the United States
20th-century American criminals
American adoptees
American escapees
American male criminals
American murder victims
American people convicted of murder
American people who died in prison custody
American prisoners sentenced to death
American rapists
American serial killers
Deaths by stabbing in Arizona
Escapees from Arizona detention
Male serial killers
People convicted of murder by Arizona
People from Tucson, Arizona
People murdered in Arizona
Prisoners sentenced to death by Arizona
Prisoners who died in Arizona detention
Serial killers murdered in prison custody