Robert Peterson & Schuessler Brothers

I read a new book recently, titled “Three Boys Missing – the tragedy that exposed the pedophilia underworld”. It was an amazing book written by former Chicago detective, James A. Jack who was part of a large investigation into the 1955 murders of two brothers and their friend. Here is their story.

*****************************************************************************************************************

The Crime

It was a cool rainy day on Sunday, October 16, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois. At around 3:30 p.m. three boys - 14 year-old, Robert (Bobby) Peterson, 13 year-old John Schuessler and 11 year-old Anton (Tony) Schuessler, Jr. – decided to go see the Disney movie, “African Lion” that was playing downtown at the Loop Theater. They were expected home by their parents no later than 8:00 p.m. that evening. The boys had a total of $4 between them for bus fare and admission to the movie. The theater was about five miles from their home, which was at least a three- or four-hour walk in good weather.

When the boys did not arrive home at 8:00 p.m., their parents began to worry. Robert’s father, Malcolm Peterson, and the Schuessler brothers’ dad, Anton Sr. began looking for them. When they could not locate the three on their own, they called the police, who said if they did not hear from the boys by midnight, then come down to the station. Later that night, at around 11:15 p.m., not being able to wait any longer due to fear, Malcolm headed to the Gale Street Police Station. When he arrived, he spoke with desk sergeant, Sgt. Petz.

Detectives James (Jim) A. Jack and Frank Czech were just coming off of their shift when they walked into the police station. Sgt. Petz asked James to speak with Mr. Peterson while he called local movie theaters to see if anyone there had seen the boys.

Detective Jack took out a missing persons form and asked the scared father what he had told Sgt. Petz when Jack and Czech walked in. Malcolm proceeded to tell the story.

He told them about the boys going downtown to see “African Lion”, how much money the boys had with them, and what time they were supposed to be home. He also told them about his search with Anton Schuessler, Sr. which produced nothing. Both sets of parents called theirs sons’ friends and everybody they knew, but no one had seen the boys since early that afternoon.

“What were the boys wearing?” Detective Jack tried to remain calm, so he could get specific information that could help them.

“Robert was wearing a White Sox jacket, with the emblem on it, and the Schuessler boys both had on Cubs jackets,” Malcolm replied.

Right away, James felt this case was different. Robert’s father was worried beyond belief and seemed different than the other parents who reported their kid missing. Usually, those parents would go to the station the next day to file a report, only to learn the child had been out all night with friends.

Detective Jack told Peterson that he and his partner, Frank would begin searching for the boys by heading to restaurants and bus stops, hoping the boys ducked in one of them to get out of the rain. Before leaving, Jim asked Petz if he had any luck with the movie theaters. Petz shook his head no. “Most of the movie theaters are closed. The ones I got through to didn’t remember seeing any young kids that fit their description.”

Frank and Jim left to search for the boys. They headed north towards the boys homes first, then worked their way south down Milwaukee Avenue. They drove past bus stops and apartment buildings, but to no avail. They returned to the station at around 12:30 a.m.

The following day, October 17 at 7:00 a.m., the real search began. Captain Russell Corcoran, Commander of the 33rd Police District, was in charge of the investigation. Both Corcoran and Commissioner Timothy O’Connor would make additional manpower and resources available if the District needed it.

Jim and Frank thoroughly questioned the Petersons and the Schuesslers to try to learn more about the boys. The detectives also interviewed school officials at Farnsworth School where the boys attended. Nobody had one bad thing to say about each boy. All three were good kids who were well-liked by many. Robert was a Boy Scout and member of the local YMCA, and like to play basketball, football, or baseball on Saturdays. The Schuessler boys came from a devout, religious family and had never been into any kind of trouble. All three boys liked to bowl and would sometimes go together on an occasional Saturday. In addition, the boys did well in school, often helped their teachers, and had good attendance records.

Over the next two days, the police interviewed many people, including bus drivers, bowling alley personnel, and people who claimed they may have seen the boys that day. Bruno Mancarini, a bus driver employed for 14 years by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), told Jim and Frank on October 16th, he drove a different route than his normal one. On this route, he said, three boys about 12 or 13 years old boarded his bus alone at about 9:00 p.m. The boys showed him their student I.D. cards and he joked with the smallest one because he looked so young. Jim showed Bruno pictures of the boys and asked him these were the same boys and Bruno said yes. He then proceeded to tell the detectives the boys got on near Irving Park Avenue, sitting on the right side of the bus. They were just getting to Lawrence Aveneu when Bruno heard the tallest boy yell out, “There’s the bowling alley.” The boy sounded kind of excited when he spotted it. The boys departed the bus at Lawrence Avenue.

The next tip came from a woman who knew the Schuessler’s. She said her son, Ernest Niewiadomski, 17 years old, saw the boys on October 16th. Ernest lived just around the corner from the Schuessler’s on Major Avenue. He was a student at Gordon Technical High School. He informed Jack and Czech that he and his two sisters, Leona, 20, and Delphine, 10, went to the Monte-Cristo Bowling Alley on Montrose Avenue at about 7:15 p.m. He said they were standing around watching people bowl when he saw the Schuessler brothers and Bobby Peterson. They talked for a bit and the three younger boys told Ernest that they had seen the movie “African Lion”, then took a bus to the bowling alley afterwards. Ernest asked the boys if they wanted to bowl and one of them said “Not unless you pay for it.” Ernest told them that his sisters were paying for him because he didn’t have any money. After that, Bobby and Tony went to the washroom and met up with John. The two boys said, “Let’s go, John.” Then they left. Ernest had no idea where they went, but he did say that John and Tony were wearing Cubs jackets and Bobby was wearing a White Sox jacket. It was about 8:00 p.m. when the three left the bowling alley.

On October 17th, at about 11:00 p.m., Frank and Jim headed to Drake Bowling Alley to question people there. They spoke with Walter Lungren, the manager, and showed him a picture of the boys. “Have you seen them?” Walter said he did and that they had been there the previous night at around 8:00 p.m. The boys wanted to bowl but leagues were playing, so they left. If this was true, the detectives had a good idea of where the kids had been and what time they had been there.

Following the trip to Drake’s, the pair headed to Monte-Cristo. Once there, they spoke with the manager, Edward C. Davis, who said the boys had been to his bowling alley twice on the 16th, which surprised Jim and Frank. The first time was about 3:15 p.m. and the second time was around 7:00 p.m. The first time they were there, they asked Edward how much it cost to bowl, and he told them 43 cents a lane, plus a shoe rental of 15 cents. The boys told him they did not have enough money and left. When they returned later, the leagues were playing so they could not bowl. Edward also told the detectives he saw them talking to a boy on the second visit but he did not know if they were friends.

On October 18, 1955, two days after the boys were last seen, a call came into the Gale Street Police Station at approximately 1:15 p.m. Captain Corcoran took the call. Relaxed at first and leaning back into his chair, he suddenly stood up and screamed, “Oh no!” He turned pale and held on to the edge of the desk to keep steady. As he listened to the caller, his voice trembled and his eyes began to tear. “Yeah…I know…we’ll be there.”

He hung up the phone then turned to his men, who were listening to the call, and said, “Men, we’ve got a triple homicide.”

The room grew silent, and tears began rolling down the officers’ eyes. Jim sat motionless and he glanced at Frank who was also crying. Corcoran then demanded everyone to get their asses out to the crime scene.

The nude and badly beaten bodies of Robert Peterson, John Schuessler and Anton Schuessler were discovered in a ditch in the middle of a picnic area in Robinson’s Woods by Victor Livingston, a man who was taking a lunch break from work at Heuer’s Restaurant. He backed into one of the parking spaces on the east side of the parking lot. When he reached for his lunch bag on the rear passenger’s seat, he noticed something outside, behind the trunk of his car. He realized immediately that it was a body. He rushed back to the restaurant to use the phone and called the police.

When the police arrived, one body was face down, with a twig clutched in one hand, and stretched across the other two bodies, which faced upwards toward the sky. The head of one of the bodies was coated with dried blood. It was a horrible site to see and Jim had never seen anything so gruesome.

The Investigation Begins

Over the next several days, cops searched for any information regarding the murders. On October 19th, Coroner McCarron reported to the officers at Gale Street Station about the autopsies on the boys which were performed by Chief Pathologist Dr. Jerry Kearns.

“He (Dr. Kearns) reported to me after the autopsies were done and indicated that the deaths of all three boys were the result of strangulation. There was no evidence of sexual assault. But sex is not eliminated entirely as a cause for the crime.

The time of death was estimated at some time between 9:00 p.m. and midnight, October 16. The victims had been dead 36 to 40 hours before their bodies were found on October 18, at 12:12 p.m. This is only a preliminary examination. I wanted to ave something for you men today and all the units that are working on this so that you have something to work on.

The boys died of asphyxiation by suffocation and violence had been applied to their necks – this is concerning all three of the boys. The bodies bore abrasions and welts. Welts on the face could have been caused by being slapped or punched.

The boy, Robert Peterson, received the worst treatment. The husky little boy was 5 feet 2 inches tall. He was hit repeatedly over the head, causing ten deep cuts, which reached the skull. All three boys received blows on the backs of their heads, causing internal hemorrhage. They were killed before discoloration could take place. Peterson was either hit with a tire tool, a jack handle, or perhaps the butt of a gun or a gun itself. But these injuries were not sufficient to kill him.

At this time we believe that the Peterson boy was strangled with a necktie, cord, belt or something similar. The only obvious fact is that the Peterson boy fought for his life. The head injuries show that.

The bodies of the two brothers, Anton and John Schuessler, indicated that they were choked. Fingernail marks on their necks indicate that they had been strangled by hand. Their bodies bore other wounds. Both Schuesslers had taken an awful lot of blows, also on the forehead, the eyes and elsewhere as if they were being punched with a fist, just like a boxing match.

Anton Schuessler’s body had been pounded heavily. His chest and stomach, as if someone was kicking him in the chest while lying down or kicking him in the stomach while lying down.

The older Schuessler boy, John, apparently died from a blow on his Adam’s apple with the edge of a hand, similar to a Judo blow. His right eye was swollen and the skin around the right eye and his face had been beaten and battered. The right side of his face was bruised, probably the result of a punch or kick. Once again, they were beaten very badly. They were just manhandled.

The evidence from the examination of the bruises shows a terrific struggle. Their noses and mouths had been taped. Also, their wrists were bound together in front of them. But the tape was removed when the bodies were dumped in Robinson’s Wood. This tape was a type used by physicians. Dr. Kearns was unable to determine the exact width of the tape. He stated that the tape was applied after the boys were unconscious or dead.

We found grease spots and smudges of grease on all three of the youths: elbows, heels and soles of the feet. This is considered a significant clue for the crime lab because Dr. Kearns interpreted this as indicating the killer or killers may have stripped the boys. With the grease smudges, the boys could have picked them up by walking around the floor of a machine shop, or the dirty floor of a garage (Three Boys Missing, pages 96-98).

McCarron also stated that the Chicago Crime Lab took scraping from underneath the fingernails of Bobby Peterson because he may have struggled with his killer or killers. On the backs of the bodies, there was a waffle-like impression that baffled Dr. Kearns, but he thought maybe the boys were forced to lay on a bare bedspring or matted rug.

At this point in the investigation, the detectives did not have any tangible clues. They needed to find the boys’ clothing and the tape used on the boys’ mouths and wrists. Investigators did find out that Bobby Peterson visited the Garland Building at about 6:00 p.m. the night he disappeared and even signed his name on the registry of the buildingt. The only connection they could find between Bobby and the building was that his eye doctor’s office was there.

Police investigated residential homes and horse stables in the area around Robinson’s Woods.

A woman, Hetty Salerno, came forward saying she heard two screams coming from an area by Idle Hour Stables between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on the night of Sunday, October 16th. Salerno’s’ house was not far from there and that night her and her husband were sitting in their breezeway. Salerno said they sounded like a young boy’s voice. The first scream was really loud but the second one a little quieter.

Another witness, Ralph Helm,a teenage boy also came forward. He spotted the boys hitchhiking while walking on the sidewalk on the east side of Milwaukee Avenue heading toward Lawrence Avenue with his girlfriend between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on October 16th.

Many others came forward as well, but the police were at a dead end. They still had no suspect or motive for the killings. In 1961, the case went cold and would remain unsolved for 40 years.

Finally, an Arrest

On August 11, 1994, Kenneth Hansen was arrested and charged with the crimes, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the murders.

According to the New York Times, Mr. Hansen sensed the investigation was closing in on him, said John Rotunno, a special agent with the ATF, who helped lead the investigation.

“He was asking a neighbor, ‘Are there any police around watching my house?’ ” recalled Mr. Rotunno, adding that Mr. Hansen had even packed a suitcase to leave town when Mr. Grady arrested him in August of that year.

He was arrested on an arson charge in a 1972 fire at a suburban Chicago stable and charged later the same day with killing the boys.

Hansen maintained his innocence, and denied any involvement in or knowledge of the murders.

The Trial

On September 6, 1995, almost 40 years after the murder of the three boys, the case went to trial. Kenneth Hansen, 62, was being tried for the murders of Robert Peterson, John Schuessler, and Anton Schuessler, Jr. Hansen worked at Idle Hour Stables and was actually questioned briefly by Detectives Jim Jack and Frank Czech in 1955. Hansen was a homosexual who molested boys between 12 and 22 years of age.

A witness, Roger Spry, a known acquaintance of Hansen’s testified that Hansen told him about the murders. When Spry was 11 years old, he moved in with Hansen and Hansen’s wife, Beverly. He lived with them off and on for twenty years. He testified that he had been molested by Ken when he was young, but then became his lover as an adult.

Spry also testified that Hansen would pick up teenage hitchhikers, take them back to Bro-Ken H Stables and molest them. It was here, Spry said, where Ken took Bobby, John, and Tony after picking them up hitchhiking. Hansen said he told Bobby to go do something with the horses and then molested the Schuessler brothers while he was gone. But Bobby returned quicker than expected and caught Hansen molesting his friends. Bobby threatened to go to the police and also tell their parents.

Kenneth Hansen then snapped and grabbed Bobby by the throat with one arm so hard Bobby suffocated. While doing this, he kept the other two boys at bay with his other arm. But knowing they could identify him, he killed them to. Spry then said that Silas Jayne, a stable owner and friend of Hansen’s caught Hansen killing the boys and was extremely angry. He burned down the stable to destroy any evidence.

Many other witnesses testified including surviving law enforcement officials and Hetty Salerno.

Finally, on September 13, 1995, the jury found Kenneth Hansen guilty of murder. He was sentenced to 300 years in prison.

But that was not the end.

On May 12, 2000, in a surprise turn of events, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the convictions and a new trial was ordered. The courts felt Judge Toomin, who presided over the 1995 trial, erroneously allowed testimony that had prejudiced the jury.

On August 9, 2002, the new trial began at 9:15 a.m. in Cook County Criminal Court. Ten days later, the new jury found Kenneth Hansen guilty for the murders of the three boys. On October 1, 2002, Hansen was sentenced to concurrent terms of not less than 200 years and not more than 300 years for the death of each boy.

Defense lawyers appealed again, but on August 25, 2004, the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Third Division, affirmed Hansen’s conviction.

After the Trials

Some believe Kenneth Hansen is innocent. According to the book, a young John Gacy lived in close proximity to Bobby, John, and Tony. He also frequented Garland Building, where Bobby Peterson signed in on October 16th, the night of the murders. Years later, Gacy was convicted of raping and murdering 33 young men between 1972 and 1978. He was executed in 1994.

Personally, I do not believe Gacy did it for the simple fact that in 1955 he was only 13 years old, the same age as John Shuessler. I think that it would have been very difficult for one boy to handle three boys that were in the same age group. I have found nothing that shows Gacy committed any crimes until he was in his 20’s.

I do believe that Hansen was the guilty party and justice was served.

On September 12, 2007, Kenneth Hansen died in prison.

Sources for this post are “Three Boys Missing – The Tragedy That Exposed the Pedophilia Underworld”, by Detective James A. Jack and the article “Death Closes the Case of Boys’ Murders” by the Associated Press, printed in the New York Times on September 15, 2007.

If you have a chance, I highly recommend reading “Three Boys Missing”. This book was written by an amazing man who was part of the investigation and determined to find justice for these boys.

Something worth mentioning here is that Anton Schuessler, Sr., overwhelmed by the deaths of his only children, died of a heart attack one month after the bodies were found. His wife and their mother, Eleanor remarried six months later and died in 1986. She was buried next to her husband and sons.

At the time the book was written, Malcolm and Dorothy Peterson, Bobby’s parents, were still alive and residing in the Chicago suburbs