The Halloween Killer: The Murder of Lisa Ann French
On Halloween night in 1973, a nine year old girl from Wisconsin was excited about dressing up in her costume and going out to get free candy, just like every other child on Halloween. However, this little girl’s night took a turn for the worst when she innocently approached her neighbors doorstep with the words, “Trick or Treat.”
Lisa Ann French was born on June 2nd, 1964, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin to parents Allan and Maryann French. She was living with her mother and stepfather, Bruce De Pauw, along with her newborn half-brother. At the time of her death, Lisa was in 4th grade and attended Chegwin Elementary School, and she was also in the girl scouts. The French family lived just half a block down from her killer, Gerald Miles Turner Jr, and were very friendly and well-acquainted with Gerald and his former girlfriend, Arlene Penn. The two had an infant together, and Lisa would often spend time with them so she could see the baby, and Gerald also once shared a rented side of a duplex with the French family as well. Prior to Lisa’s death, Gerald didn’t have any sex offenses against him. He did however sexually assault his 15 year old babysitter, but that accusation didn’t come out until after Lisa’s murder.
On the night of the murder, Lisa left her home around 5:45PM in her hobo costume, wearing a black felt hat, green parka, jeans with blue masking tape on them, and added freckles on her cheeks. She was originally supposed to go trick or treating with her friend, Ann Parker, but she had gotten in trouble and wasn’t allowed to go out that night. Lisa made a stop at another friend’s house, along with the house of one of her teachers before heading over to Gerald’s residence for candy. Lisa excitedly approached his doorstep with her candy bag wide open, and her smile lit up when he put the free candy into her bag. According to Gerald, he was sexually motivated as soon as he saw her, and began to discuss candy with the vulnerable nine year old. He lured her into his home with the promise of more candy, where he then closed his door, grabbed her, brought her into his bedroom and proceeded to sexually assault her.
Gerald claimed that at some point after he finished the assault, he noticed that Lisa had stopped breathing, and tried to revive her. He stopped trying once he heard his girlfriend come home. When Arlene was questioned, she claimed that she arrived home around 7PM, and when she saw Gerald, he was wearing a robe and kept telling her that he wasn’t feeling well. She also claimed that he had made multiple trips to the bedroom to lie down, which had their attached bathroom to it, where he had placed her body. Gerald claimed that after Arlene left the home again around 8PM to visit her mother, he stuffed Lisa’s body into one bag, and her clothes into another, and drove her body to Taycheedah, Wisconsin, and left the bags in a farm field. In an attempt to avoid any evidence being left behind, he wore socks on his hands to prevent fingerprints, and wiped down Lisa’s shoes and the zipper on her jacket.
When Lisa didn’t return home at 7PM when she was told to, her mother began to worry about her. By the time 10PM rolled around, a search party was already out looking for her. The search party was a county wide extensive search, which included over 5,000 volunteers, 700 block parents (a large volunteer based program for child safety and crime prevention across Canada), auxiliary police officers, some of the girl scout members, and The United States National Guard. The search went on for four days, before a farmer named Gerald Braun stumbled upon two brown plastic bags behind a wired fence, around 11:30AM on November 3rd. The bags contained Lisa’s nude body, and her Halloween costume. Lisa’s autopsy concluded that her death was caused by asphyxiation, but a pathologist also stated that she could’ve died from circulatory shock due to the sexual trauma that she endured. A $10,000 reward was posted for the capture of Lisa’s killer.
Gerald Turner was a suspect right from the start, but it took nine months of questioning and testing before he finally gave his confession on August 8th, 1974, which he later would retract. During these nine months, police had him undergo a polygraph test, which came back with inconclusive results, and he refused to take a second one. Police also took his body hair and fibers from his bedspread, and his hair was a positive match on Lisa’s body and clothing. In his confession he stated that his attack was completely sexually motivated, he performed anal intercourse on her, and when he noticed she stopped breathing, he put his head over her chest and heard her heart still beating. He tried to revive her, but ultimately had to stop trying when his girlfriend pulled up to the house. Gerald was charged and convicted on February 4th, 1975, for second degree murder, acts of sexual perversion, and enticing a child for immoral purposes, and was sentenced to 38 years and 6 months in prison.
Gerald Turner was paroled on October 13th, 1992, after only serving 17 years and 8 months of his sentencing due to “good behavior.” This caused numerous community protests and public outrage, which prompted lawmakers to create the sexual predator law Wisconsin Chapter 980 nicknamed “Turners Law,” and was ratified on May 26th, 1994. This law allows criminals who have been paroled or released to be sent to mental institutions if they’re deemed to have “substantial probability” to commit another crime. On November 23rd, 1993, Gerald was sent back to prison after a Department of Corrections appeal ruled that they had miscalculated his mandatory parole release from his good behavior.
On January 9th, 1998, Gerald had a four day parole trial and was ruled that he was not a violent sexual predator, therefor he could not be detained at a treatment center under “Turners Law,” and was allowed to begin his second mandatory parole. He was then returned to prison for an additional 15 years after violating his parole in 2003, when a large amount of pornographic material was found in his possession. After his 15 year sentence was completed, he was allowed to be released without parole restrictions, until Lisa’s mother filed a petition to keep Gerald detained in a treatment center. The petition gained over 34 thousand signatures, and Gerald Turner is currently detained at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston, Wisconsin. The last report to have his status tried again was set for October 2020, but I haven’t been able to find any further information about it.
