On a cool autumn evening, November 17, 1973, fourteen-year-old Dana Baade, a white male, joined his older brother and their friends for what was meant to be a night of camaraderie around a campfire at Gitchie Manitou State Preserve in Iowa, just across the border from their home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Dana, a student at Patrick Henry Junior High School, was with his eighteen-year-old brother, Stewart Baade, and their friends, seventeen-year-old Roger Essem, fifteen-year-old Michael
Hadrath, and thirteen-year-old Sandra Cheskey. The group of five teenagers had gathered to enjoy each other's company, unaware of the horror that would soon unfold.
As the teenagers sat by their fire, they were ambushed by three brothers: Allen, David, and James Fryer, who were in the park illegally poaching deer. Mistakenly believing the teenagers were in possession of drugs, the Fryer brothers, armed with shotguns, posed as narcotics officers and opened fire on the unsuspecting group. The initial volley of shots killed Roger Essem instantly and wounded Stewart Baade. In the ensuing chaos, the surviving teens were rounded up by the assailants.
The Fryer brothers then separated the lone female, Sandra Cheskey, from the male teenagers. She was taken away in a vehicle by one of the brothers. Dana, his brother Stewart, and Michael Hadrath were marched away from the campsite and brutally shot to death. Their bodies, along with Roger Essem's, were discovered the following day. Sandra Cheskey was sexually assaulted by one of the brothers before being driven to her home and released, becoming the sole survivor and the key witness to the night's horrific events.
Sandra's harrowing testimony provided authorities with the crucial information needed to identify the perpetrators. Her ability to recall details about the suspects and their vehicle led to the arrests of the three Fryer brothers—Allen, David, and James—within two weeks of the murders. All three brothers were subsequently tried and convicted for their roles in the brutal slayings. They were found guilty of multiple counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
