The Devil's Tree

Welcome to a chilling journey into the heart of darkness, where the twisted branches of the Devil's Tree loom like the skeletal fingers of malevolence. This sinister sentinel is said to harbor not only the souls of the damned but also the lingering presence of evil entities, as if the very roots of this accursed arboreal monstrosity draw sustenance from evil itself. A tree, so blood-stained from countless killings, that its bark seems to weep the tormented cries of those who have met their gruesome fate beneath its shadow. Join us as we delve into the haunted history and the ghastly legends that shroud the Devil's Tree. Things are about to get weird.

Transcript

 WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and disturbing imagery that may be upsetting to some listeners. Viewer discretion is advised.

Welcome to a chilling journey into the heart of darkness, where the twisted branches of the Devil's Tree loom like the skeletal fingers of malevolence. This sinister sentinel is said to harbor not only the souls of the damned but also the lingering presence of evil entities, as if the very roots of this accursed arboreal monstrosity draw sustenance from evil itself. A tree, so blood-stained from countless killings, that its bark seems to weep the tormented cries of those who have met their gruesome fate beneath its shadow. Join us as we delve into the haunted history and the ghastly legends that shroud the Devil's Tree. Things are about to get weird.

This story starts on March 26, 1946 when Gerard John Schaefer was born. He was the first of three children, and he described his childhood as “troubled and turbulent.” This was mainly due to the fact that his father was an alcoholic who frequently abused the kids and their mom. They also relocated a lot. Even though he was not a classic loner, he was not part of any clique in school. He regularly pursued his interests by himself. His peers and his family viewed him as an outdoors man and he had hoped to be a forest ranger one day. 

By his teen years, Schaefer developed fantasies that were erotic in nature. These fantasies included hurting women who he deemed worthy of his contempt, and often included bondage and including pain upon himself. He usually wore women's underwear while inflicting pain on himself to reach orgasm via autoerotic asphyxia. These were usually with him going to a rural area and tying himself to a tree. He also became a peeping tom in his mid teens. He also started cross-dressing. His female classmates did not have a great view of him even though he had dated throughout highschool. His teachers thought that he was a promising student, and he was even a member of the varsity football team during his Sophomore and Junior years. He graduated St. Thomas Aquinas High School in 1964. He initially enrolled at Broward Community College in 1964 to major in Social Studies before switching to education. He achieved average grades. After his sophomore year, he was accepted to Florida Atlantic University on a scholarship in 1968 to get a BA in education. 

Schafer did get married in 1968 to fellow FAU student Martha “Marti” Louise Fogg in 1968.Unfortunately their marriage did start to go south. It is stated that it was due to his high demand for sex and from his always hunting. They did get divorced on May 2, 1970 with Martha stating that the reason for their separation was Schafer’s cruelty.  

Schaefer began a student teaching internship at Plantation HIgh School on September 23 1969, primarily teaching geography. He refused advice from superiors and continually attempted to impose his own political views and moral opinions. The school received many complaints and he got fired. He then got hired at Stranton High School on April 2nd. Seven weeks later, he was let go. The reason was that his superiors thought that he had a very limited knowledge on the subject that he taught and that he was very arrogant. After his teaching career, he vacationed in North Africa and Europe. When he came back to Florida, he applied for a job with the Wilton Manors police department on September 1, 1970. He did not tell them that he had been fired twice and that he had lied that he had 2 years experience as a research assistant at FAU. He only lasted 6 months because his general performance was poor. It was found out that he had a habit of stopping female drivers who had committed small traffic infractions. He would enter their license plate into a database to get more personal info about them before asking them out on a date. After he was fired from that police department, he became a deputy with the Martin County Sheriff’s office. He forged a letter from Wilton Manors Police that endorsed him.  

On July 21,1972, Schaefer encountered two teenage girls while on duty. They were 17 year old Paula Sue Wells and 18 year old Nancy Ellen Trotter. They were trying to get to Stuart, Florida. He did bring them there, but did warn them about the dangers of hitchhiking. They wanted to go to Jensen Beach the following day, and he stated that he would bring them there. He picked them up the next day in plain clothes, and he told them he was doing undercover duties that day. Once they were driving, he went off of the path to Jensen, and took them to a warn down shed deep inside a remote forested area. This is where he handcuffed and gagged the girls. He took one of the girls to a cypress tree close to the Indian River. He tied her legs to the trunk  just below her knees and tied a noose around her neck. This noose was attached to a branch in a way that forced her to stand upon the exposed roots to counter the pressure from the noose. Schaefer took the other girl to a different tree a short distance away. She was also tied to the tree in a similar way and was forced to stand up on a narrow exposed tree root to counter the pressure from the noose. He told both girls that they were going to be raped and murdered. At that moment, Schaefer received an urgent radio dispatch. This dispatch  informed him to immediately report to the police station. He left them the way that they were, tied to the tree. He warned the girls to not run away because he was only going a little way down the road. Well, they did escape. Schaefer returned two hours later and they were no longer tied to their trees. Sheriff Crowder and Lieutenant Melvin Waldron quickly went out to the area after receiving a call from Schaefer, and discovered Nancy on A1A, partially gagged and her hands still behind her back. They removed her gag, and stated that her friend was still in the forest. Thankfully Paula was already at the police station. Schaefer was fired and then arrested on the charges of false imprisonment and aggravated assault. He was released on a $15,000 bail. 

On September 27,1972, Schaefer abducted two teen girls, 16 year old Georgia Marie Jessup and 17 year old Susan Carol Place. They met Schaefer at an adult education center.  On the afternoon of their disappearance, Susan’s mom, Lucielle, arrived home and went to her daughter’s room. The girls were hanging out there, and introduced her to “Jerry”. The girls told Lucille that they were going to the beach and will be back in a little while. They did not. Four days later, Lucille contacted Georgia’s mom, Shirley, only for her to say that Georgia ran away 4 days earlier. Unfortunately they were never found, and the disappearance is a cold case. 

On April 1, 1973, a father and son found decomposed remains of two bodies in Oak Hammock Park in Port St. Lucie, Fl.  The bodies were located about 6 miles from where Trotter and Wells had been held captive the summer before. Both of the girls were bound and murdered. Their spinal cords were severed at the lumbar and cervical section and several bones completely severed with a machete or knife. The bodies were decapitated after death. Their jawbones sustained numerous fractures. The remains that were later identified as Place, had also sustained a gunshot wound on her lower jaw. The initials G.J. had been carved in a tree trunk of a tree close to  the bodies. Their bodies were identified via dental records and healed bone fractures on April 5th. 

May 12th, investigators gathered enough physical and circumstantial evidence to link Schaefer to nine murders and unsolved disappearances between the years of 1969 and 1973. On May 18th, Schaefer was formally charged with first degree murder for the killings of Place and Jessup. Following the closing arguments of the trial, the jury began their deliberations. They deliberated for 5 hours and 10 minutes before returning with two verdicts of first degree murder. He was sentenced to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment. He was stabbed to death on the floor of his cell on December 3, 1995. He was stabbed over 40 times on the head, face, neck and body. His throat was also slashed and several ribs fractured. According to officials, a 32 year old fellow inmate, Vincent Faustion Rivera, killed Schaefer after an argument over who received the final cup of hot water from a dispenser days prior to his murder. 

he girls at Oak Hammock Park, there have been supernatural events that have happened. There have been reports of screaming in the woods and orbs that have shown up in pictures. Hooded figures have chased people visiting the tree, just to disappear. Two boys were chased in the woods by hooded figures in 1993, and the figures disappeared when they got to the road. That same year, an exorcism was conducted. A cross was put up by the diocese of the area, but it was knocked over in 1994. When the city built the park, they decided to take down the tree. When they went to remove it, the chainsaws that were going to be used malfunctioned. When an ax was used, the handle came off. People have heard chanting around the tree at night, and even a snap of a rope near the tree. 

Not-So-Fun Facts:

• Gerard John Schaefer is one of Florida’s first serial killers.
• There was a search warrant to look at Schaefer’s place.  At his Ft. Lauderdale residence, there were 11 guns, live and spent cartridges, 13 hunting knives, sections of rope, and softcore porn magazines which he modified.There were 37 black and white Polaroid pictures depicting women being mutilated and/or hung. Several of those images had Scheafer dressed in female garments stimulating his own hanging from a tree. Inside a gold jewelry box, they found jewelry, passports, and clothing that belonged to several women. There was a heart-shaped charm with the initials of M.T.N. A gold locket was inscribed with a girls’ name, Leigh. Teeth and sections of bones later identified as belonging to at least 8 victims were also discovered. 
• The mother of victim Georgia Jessup informed the media that she considered Schaefer’s own murder as a case of overdue justice. She stated “I’ve always believed he was going to get this. I just wish it had been sooner rather than later.” 
• The judge who presided over his murder trial, Cyrus Trowbridge, stated “He’s finally gotten the death sentence he ultimately deserved but couldn’t be given”
• Because he was killed in jail, there is no clear number of how many people Schaefer abducted, murdered, or both. But the number is an estimate of 28 victims. 
• There was a horror movie done about the devil tree called, Devil’s Tree: Rooted Evil