It’s a tale as old as time – by all accounts, a mediocre white man oozes charisma and charm and gathers a following. We all know that this is generally how cults start. There’s not doubt that Charles Schmid had all the makings of a cult leader. Thankfully, he never quite got that far, or that organized.
Charles “Smitty” Schmid was born on July 8th, 1942 to a single mother who was not at all prepared for motherhood. The baby was adopted by Charles and Katherin Schmid who owned and operated the Hillcrest Nursing Home in Tucson, Arizona.
Schmid often had a contentious relationship with his adoptive father, whom his adoptive mother later divorced. His adoptive mother doted on him, and showered him with gifts, but it seems as though they were never quite able to form that emotional connection that Schmid has been looking for in a parent.
Instead, he tried to get attention anywhere else he could get it. He had developed a habit of compulsive lying. He would tell anyone and everyone who would listen the most outrageous stories about his life. He told lie after lie after lie, delighting in shocking and amazing his classmates. And this was a habit that would follow him throughout his life.
He also became obsessed with Elvis Presley, often slicking his hair back, wearing thick makeup, and even giving himself a birthmark, which got bigger over time.
While Schmid wasn’t the best academically, he excelled in athletics, especially gymnastics. He led his high school’s team to a state championship, and even had some interest from college scouts. However, he quit the sport during his senior year out of boredom.
Schmid was a charmer. He was well-mannered, intelligent, and good looking. But he often felt bored and listless. Shortly before graduation, he was suspended for stealing tools and never returned. But Schmid figured he wouldn’t need an education to get through life. He could get by on his wits alone. And help from his other.
Schmid lived on his own quarters on his mother’s property, living off of the $300 allowance she gave him every month. This suited Schmid, who was going by “Smitty” at this time, just fine. He had a place where he could hang out with his friends – friends who would hang on his every word. Friends who, like him, were also bored and listless.
Tucson in the 1960s didn’t have much in terms of entertainment for teenagers. They took to hanging around Speedway Boulevard, drinking, smoking weed, and the boys would try to pick up girls. This is where Smitty ran the roost – where he charmed them, manipulated them, and led them to follow his every word without question.
And his most devoted follower was John Saunders, a shy boy who had been bullied most of his childhood. He adored the attention from Smitty. Finally, he had someone who cared about him. And that attention would soon cost more than Saunders was willing to pay.
In 1964, Smitty was in his 20s, but delighted in charming high school girls into his bed, and into dating him. One such girl was Mary French. She was absolutely devoted to Smitty, and would do anything for him, all he had to do was ask. And once of the things he asked was that she, and any girl he was dating, open a joint bank account with him and share any and all of their earnings. Mary accepted a ring in return for handing over her finances to him.
Like his buddy Smitty, Saunders had had his eye on a girl and had even tried to ask her out, though she turned him down. Hurt and upset, Saunders complained about it to Smitty. And Smitty couldn’t let it go. So he hatched a plan to show this girl just who was in charge of Tucson.
Charles “Smitty” Schmid was beginning to feel a particular kind of itch that only acts of extreme violence could scratch. And it was during this time that he turned to French and told her that he “wanted to kill a girl”, just to know what it felt like. And he knew just who to go after.
On Sunday May 31st, 1964, Alleen Rowe was living with her mother, Karen. The two were enjoying an evening at home before Norma had to go to work as a night nurse.
Smitty had instructed French to convince Alleen to join them on an double date – something she had initially declined. Alleen had seen Smitty and his group around town, and she wasn’t interested. She knew they were trouble, and she wanted none of it.
It’s unclear how she came to her decision, but Alleen seemingly changed her mind and decided to go out with them. Smitty, Saunders, and French picker her up after her mother had left for work. She was wearing a swimsuit and a coverup blouse.
The four then took a lengthy drive out into the desert. They parked, then took a walk down a ways to a wash. Before long, Smitty asked French to return to the car with him, which she did. Saunders then tried to force himself onto Alleen, who could be heard screaming.
Making up the excuse that Alleen needed help, Smitty ran back to the pair. But it certainly wasn’t help he was offering. French, not wanting to see what she knew was about to happen, returned to the car.
Smitty then joined his friend in raping Alleen. When they were done, he forced her to put her clothes back on. He then tried to strangle Alleen, but she was still breathing. Smitty then found a sharp rock in the sand, and offered it to Saunders. But he refused. Smitty then turned back to Alleen and hit her over the head with the rock.
When they returned to the car, Smitty grabbed French, kissed her, and told her: “We killed her. I love you very much.” The threat was clear.
Alleen’s mother, Norma, went through the entire traumatic process of discovering her daughter was missing. At first, the police did nothing. They were convinced that Alleen was a runaway. But Norma knew better.
Norma also knew that Smitty and his followers were known for being up to no good, and that the French girl had been trying to cozy up to her daughter for a few days before her disappearance. Eventually, Norma convinced the police to at least speak to the group, and see if they knew anything about what had happened to Alleen.
By the time police arrived to speak to them, they’d had time to get their stories straight. Smitty, Saunders, and French all told variations of the same story. They had gone to Alleen’s home to pick her up, as they had agreed, to go for a drive. But Alleen wasn’t home, so they drove away. They hadn’t seen her at all that Sunday night, they had no idea where she could be.
The trio were released, and leads soon dried up. The disappearance of Alleen Rowe went cold, but Norma never gave up. She was determined to get answers about what happened to her daughter.
Meanwhile, Smitty’s circle of followers began to experience a few changes. John Saunders joined the Navy and moved to Connecticut. He was afraid of what Smitty might do to him if he told anyone about that night out on the desert.
Mary French moved to Texas for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. She was still devoted to Smitty, and very much in love with him. But no matter her feelings, Smitty didn’t return them.
Instead, he went about charming, manipulating, and grooming other vulnerable teenagers into becoming his friends and lovers.
As quickly as he amassed new followers and devotees, he also earned a nickname for it – the Pied Piper of Tucson.
Like John Saunders before him, Richie Bruns adored the attention that being part of Smitty’s circle brought him. And he soon earned his place as Smitty’s right hand man. But that attention was always divided – there were always pretty, young blondes for Smitty to keep his eye on. Like Gretchen Fritz.
Gretchen Fritz was the daughter of a wealthy Tucson heart surgeon and community leader. She had a reputation for being a little wild, having been expelled from her prestigious private school for being involved in an attempted armed robbery. And this immediately endeared her to Smitty.
The two began dating, with Gretchen soon taking control. She was possessive. Smitty was hers. She would become hysterical when he showed other girls attention, which was often. She would telephone him constantly, demanding that she be his sole focus of attention.
In essence, Smitty was soon the one being controlled rather than doing the controlling. And Smitty didn’t like that one bit.
Believing that he could scare her off, Smitty admitted to Gretchen that he had been the one to order the attack on Alleen. He also admitted to being the one to murder her. But none of this was a surprise to Gretchen.
She had stolen his diary at some point, and knew all about what he’d done to Alleen. The diary held very detailed descriptions of everything that had happened that night. The diary also held details of the shooting of an unnamed 16-year-old boy allegedly killed by Smitty.
When Gretchen read these diary entries, she wasn’t scared of her boyfriend. Instead, she found exactly what she’d been looking for – leverage. She threatened to ruin him, to turn him in to the police, if he ever tried to leave her. She felt that she had successfully done what so many other girls had been unable to do – she’d trapped him.
But Smitty wasn’t one to be trapped. He wasn’t one to be controlled, to have someone hold anything over his head. And so he resolved to rid himself of the problem in the only way he knew how.
On August 16th, 1965, over a year after the murder of Alleen Rowe, 17-year-old Gretchen and her 13-year-old sister Wendy disappeared.
Smitty told Richie that he suspected Gretchen of having run away to California. When he was questioned by detectives as Gretchen’s boyfriend, he told them the same thing. But things wouldn’t stay quiet for very long.
Soon, the mafia became involved. Supposedly, they had been hired to look into the disappearance of the teen girls, and the pressure grew. Though the lies Smitty had told so far were working, it wasn’t long before he was bound to snap.
Smitty confided in his right hand man, Richie. He told him that he’d killed a total of four times, including strangling the Fritz sisters. He then showed Richie where the bodies had been shallowly buried in the desert, more or less making Richie an accomplice.
The more the pressure built, the more Smitty seemed to be losing what tenuous grasp on reality he had. And this worried Richie intensely.
Richie had fallen in love with a girl who had once spurned Smitty’s advances. And Richie grew more and more and more concerned that Smitty was going to harm her next.
He started watching her house with such intensity that her parents believed he was stalking her. He even spent the night in the alley outside of her house, keeping watching, trying to keep her safe. (And in his terrified mind, I’m sure his actions seemed noble.)
When law enforcement became involved, Richie was sent by a judge to Ohio to live with his grandmother.
By October of 1965, 24-year-old Smitty was dating another young girl, a 15-year-old by the name of Diane Lynch. They got married on October 24th.
Still scared and still very paranoid about what, exactly, Smitty was capable of, Richie ultimately made a decision. He told his grandmother the whole story. He told her about Alleen Rowe’s murder. He told her about how he was forced to help Smitty bury the Fritz sisters. He told her about how he feared for the girl he loved, which had driven him all the way to Ohio.
Relieved to get the truth off his chest, Richie realized Smitty could no long have a hold on him. The truth needed to come out.
He called his father in Tucson, and told him the truth. In turn, Richie’s father called the police.
By November, Richie returned to Tucson. He told them his story in his own words, and showed the police where Gretchen and Wendy had been buried.
On November 10th, 1965, police arrived at Smitty’s home with an arrest warrant for Charles Schmid for murder. His mother tried to bar the door from them, but was not successful. He was arrested, and brought to the police station for questioning.
John Saunders was arrested in Connecticut, where he made a deal. He would confess to his involvement in the murder of Alleen Rowe in return for a life sentence with the possibility of parole within 7 years.
Mary French refused to confess. She was still devoted to Smitty and didn’t want to give him any trouble. Until she found out that he had married someone else. Heartbroken, Mary also confessed, and offered to show police where Alleen had been buried. Ultimately, her body wasn’t found.
Smitty was refusing to speak with police, which made the case against him for the murder of Alleen Rowe weak.
In February of 1966, only the murders of Gretchen and Wendy Fritz went to trial. It was during the trial that the Tucson community as a whole realized how much of a hold Charles Schmid had over the teenagers who hung out around Speedway Boulevard. It was also revealed that up to 30 teenagers were aware of, or had suspected, Schmid of murdering Alleen, Gretchen, and Wendy. They just never said anything.
Charles Schmid was found guilty of the murders of Gretchen and Wendy Fritz, and was sentenced to death. His wife, Diane, sobbed openly in court upon hearing the verdict. She very quickly divorced him.
In May of 1967, Charles Schmid was put on trial for the murder of Alleen Rowe. Ultimately, he confessed. He finally showed police where he had hidden her body. He had moved it without telling Saunders of French he had done so.
Alleen Rowe’s skeleton was unearthed in June of 1967, giving Norma the peace and closure she needed to fully mourn her daughter.
Mary French was released from prison in 1968. She returned to Texas to live with her family.
In 1990, a man by the name of John Saunders was released from prison, but it’s unclear if this John Saunders was the one in prison for Alleen’s murder.
Having turned state’s witness, Richie Bruns managed to avoid going to prison.
Schmid attempted to escape prison, even succeeding once. But he was soon apprehended and returned to prison.
In March of 1975, Schmid was killed in a fight in jail when two prisoners jumped him, and stabbed him. He lost an eye and a kidney in the brawl, and ultimately succumbed to his injuries on March 30th, 1975.
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Sources:
The Chilling Story Of Charles Schmid, The ‘Pied Piper Of Tucson’ – Bernadette Giacomazzo, edited by Erik Hawkins – All That’s Interesting
Serial killer known as the “Pied Piper of Tucson” murders his first victim – History.com
Tucson Salvage: The forever haunting of The Pied Piper of Tucson – Brian Smith – Tucson Weekly
The Pied Piper of Tucson: The Twisted Murders of Charles Schmid – The LineUp
Serial Killers podcast – “The Pied Piper of Tucson” Charles Howard Schmid