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This Dateline episode takes us back to 1992, in the discreet town of Agawam, Massachusetts, where the town was left shocked by the sudden disappearance and inhumane murder of a 24-year-old, Lisa Ziegert.
Lisa’s heartbreaking death stayed under wraps as an unsolved cold case for nearly 25 years.
NBC’s Dateline sheds some light on this disturbing cold case, untangling the web of mysteries involving one of the most distressing true crime cases it has ever featured on its channel.
1) A Crime Scene Frozen in Time as seen on NBC: Dateline
On the dawn of April 16, 1992, Lisa’s workmate entered Brittany’s Card & Gift Shoppe (Lisa’s workplace) wanting to go about her day as usual.
Instead, what she found was that the lights were still kept still on, Lisa’s purse kept intact, and the shop strangely silent. Lisa’s car was also still parked in the parking lot, but Lisa? Lisa was gone.
According to Lisa’s workmate,
“I was pretty panicked at that point. I knew something obviously happened to her… My first instinct was to run and call the police.”
The investigation, as seen on Dateline, explained the terrifying details that followed. A door was seen like it had been forcefully kicked in, there were blood-stained boxes in the shop, but, no sign of struggle, and all the clues hinted at a forceful kidnapping.
For the ones who were closest to Lisa, the unanswered questions for them sadly began here on a random day in April 1992.
2) A Discovery No One Was Ready For
Four days later, Lisa’s body was found in the woods. A day of rejoicing as the Lord resurrects, Easter Sunday was now turned into a day of mourning as a pedestrian suddenly came across Lisa’s somewhat clothed body in a forested area.
She had suffered numerous stab wounds on her neck and some other injuries that indicated that she fought back with all of her strength.
The autopsy report also revealed that she had been brutally sexually assaulted. As the episode on Dateline stresses, the brutality of the murder shocked even experienced detectives.
Lisa’s death wasn’t just disastrous — it was terrifyingly intentional. Her family, close ones, and the entire town that she lived in were left to mourn without having any closure for nearly 30 years straight.
3) A Killer Obsessed — and Hiding in Plain Sight
The killer watched the case unfold on his TV, completely glued to the coverage. Years went by, and several suspects were excluded with the help of DNA.
But one man in particular, — Gary Schara — stood out from the crowd for his unsettling fixation with following through with the case, keeping tabs on every single move.
Dateline reveals that it was no one else but Schara’s ex-partner who once tipped off a lawyer that Gary seemed frantically obsessed with Lisa’s murder. He kept an eye on every possible update and asked about every single evidence if retrieved any.
It took years and major developments in DNA science before investigators working on the case could lawfully force Schara to give a sample. What they found was incriminatory.
4) The Confession That Changed Everything
In an outrageous twist, worthy of making its way onto Dateline, Schara did not turn himself in. What did instead happen was that he left behind three letters: one to his then girlfriend, one to the cops, and one to Lisa’s family.
In them, he admitted to abduction, r*ping Lisa, and then killing Lisa, claiming his "dark fantasies" had escalated out of his control.
“I had no intention of killing her…but events spun out of my control.”
It was a terrifying peek into the mind of a sick and twisted man who had given refuge to such violent fantasies since his childhood, and even acted on them.
“I’ve never really been or even felt normal. From a very young age I was fascinated by abduction & bondage. I could never keep it too far from my mind for long. On that fateful day, I let myself do something terrible.”
5) Justice After 27 Years
Garry Schara was finally under arrest in 2017. This case not only haunted Dateline, a true-crime streaming series from NBC, but it haunted the entire town of Agawam. The Lisa Ziegert cold case had finally reached a long-awaited breakthrough.
Garry Schara pleaded guilty in 2019, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Detective Wayne Macey, who had never once given up on Lisa’s case, visited Lisa’s gravesite with a rose. He took along a card with him that read;
“Lisa, it’s done. Rest in peace.”
As Dateline puts it, it wasn’t just the end of a case solved on a casual day in the middle of a week— it was the closing of a wound that had been left open for far too long.
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Lisa Ziegert’s story, featured on Dateline, is one of unbelievable heartbreak, lasting love, and the diligent chase of justice. From strange signs at a gift shop to a confession years later, this case brings out the horror and the power of perseverance.
Though Lisa's life was sadly cut short, her story and her memories lives on — not just in newspaper and article headlines, but in the hearts of those who never stopped the hunt for justice.
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