In the summer of 1965, the city of Tucson, Arizona, was gripped by a story that began with the disappearance of two sisters and ended with the unmasking of a charismatic killer. Seventeen-year-old Gretchen Fritz, a white female, and her thirteen-year-old sister, Wendy, vanished on the evening of August 16th after heading out to a drive-in movie. Their failure to return home sparked immediate concern from their parents, a prominent local heart surgeon and his wife.
As days turned into weeks with no word from the girls, the family's hope began to wane, and the community was left to wonder what had become of the two sisters.
The investigation into their disappearance eventually led authorities to a chilling discovery in a remote desert area on the outskirts of Tucson. The remains of Gretchen and Wendy were found buried in a shallow grave. The focus of the investigation soon turned to a local figure known for his influence over the city's youth, a 23-year-old man named Charles Schmid. Known as the 'Pied Piper of Tucson,' Schmid was a charismatic and manipulative individual who held a strange power over many of the local teenagers. Gretchen had been romantically involved with Schmid, a relationship that proved to be both volatile and ultimately fatal.
Schmid had a dark secret, a previous murder he had committed, and he had made the fateful decision to confess this crime to Gretchen. When their turbulent relationship began to sour and Gretchen threatened to expose him, Schmid saw her as a liability he could not afford. In a desperate act to ensure her silence, he lured Gretchen and her younger sister to a desolate location where he strangled them both. For a time, it seemed as though he had gotten away with it, as he had with his previous crime. However, Schmid made the mistake of confiding in a friend, Richard Bruns, even going so far as to show him where he had buried the sisters. Overcome with fear, Bruns eventually went to the police, and his testimony was the key to breaking the case.
The arrest of Charles Schmid sent shockwaves through the Tucson community and drew national attention. His trial revealed the disturbing details of not only the murders of Gretchen and Wendy Fritz but also the earlier slaying of another young woman named Alleen Rowe. Schmid was ultimately convicted for the murders of the Fritz sisters and was later sentenced to death. This sentence was eventually commuted to a long-term prison sentence. His reign of terror came to a permanent end in 1975 when he was killed by fellow inmates while serving his time.
