Father, Daughter Found Dead In NE Minneapolis
Relative Found Broken Window, Called Police Who Made Discovery
DATE: April 18, 2003
As coroners readied Friday to try and determine how an 88-year-old man
and his 50-year-old disabled daughter died in their northeast
Minneapolis home, police said they are investigating the case as a
double homicide. The deaths, discovered when a relative knocked on the
door and got no answer and saw a broken window on the back door, stunned
the neighborhood. "They were great people," neighbor Donna Moen told
KSTP-TV. "They would come into McDonald's about three, four times a day
seven days a week." Police did not release the names of the two people,
but friends identified them as William Schwartz and Claudia Schwartz.
The television station said police reviewed the videotape from a nearby
security camera but didn't comment on any findings.
Minneapolis police confirm the Long Prairie suspects are connected to a
double-homicide
DATE: May 1, 2003
MINNEAPOLIS - Shortly after authorities in Long Prairie announced a link
between a triple homicide in that city and a double homicide in
Minneapolis, the Minneapolis police chief commented on the developments
in the case. Police Chief Robert Olson confirmed that Earl and Carpenter
were also suspects in the robbery and killings of an elderly man and his
adult daughter. In that case, William Schwartz, 88, and Claudia
Schwartz, 50, were found dead April 17 in their northeast Minneapolis
home. Olson said they had been severely beaten and stabbed and their
throats slashed. The father was in frail health; his daughter was
paralyzed on her right side and neighbors said she had epilepsy. Olson
said robbery appeared to be the motive in both cases and the crime
scenes were similar. "The bottom line here is money," he said. Police
believe the cash taken from the Schwartz home included a number of rare
old silver dollars and Kennedy half dollars. Coins of that type were
taken in at a bank in Plymouth but police had not yet examined them,
Olson said. A tip to police led to the suspects. Minneapolis police said
they arrested the two men about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at a house in
northeast Minneapolis. Olson said both of the men tried to pull weapons
on the officers, but they were subdued without shots being fired. As far
as Minneapolis police know, the suspects had only minor crimes on their
records, Olson said. Both also were known drug users, he added. Hennepin
County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said the suspects would appear first in
court in Long Prairie, giving investigators in Minneapolis more time to
work up their case before charges are filed in the Schwartz slayings.
Two
charged in Minnesota murder spree
DATE: May 2, 2003
LONG
PRAIRIE - After two Twin Cities men - their faces bruised and cut -
appeared in court to face murder charges, residents in this small town
finally had an answer: Who could have bound and killed a mother and her
two teenage children? But now there are new questions: How and why the
men, with only small offenses in their criminal histories, could be
accused of a rampage that left five people brutally killed in 12 days?
On Thursday, authorities charged the men with second-degree murder in
the killings of Holly Chromey, 49, and her children, Katie Zapzalka, 18,
and Jerrod Zapzalka, 16. Their bodies were found Monday night, beaten
and stabbed, in their Long Prairie home. About 100 miles away in
Minneapolis, authorities also plan to charge Christopher Earl, 20, and
Jonathan Carpenter, 21, in the deaths of an elderly man and his disabled
daughter who were found dead in their home two weeks ago. In both cases,
police said, the victims were apparently selected at random and brutally
killed during robberies. "There was no reason for them to die," said
Amber Carlier, 19, a high school classmate of Katie's who attended
Thursday's court hearing to see "the last faces that they saw."
Residents of Long Prairie live with their doors unlocked and car windows
rolled down. But when the bodies of Chromey and the Zapzalkas were
found, a new sense of fear crept into the town of 3,000 in the middle of
Minnesota. All were relieved that one of their own hasn't emerged as a
suspect in the crimes. Amanda LeNore, 18, a friend of Katie's, could
barely speak after a morning news conference where authorities announced
the charges. "At first when we heard this we thought that it was
somebody we know, that would have been horrible, but to think that is a
random act ... " said LeNore, her voice trailing off as she began
crying. "This is terrible," said Richard Geis, 57, who has lived here 14
years. "It shakes the whole town up. You tend to lock your doors. ... It
will affect us for a while. We will have bad memories." Investigators
believe the three were asleep when the suspects broke in. They were
beaten and stabbed, and bound with electrical tape, Chromey and Jerrod
struggled to free themselves before they were killed, according to a
criminal complaint and authorities. "This appears to be a random,
senseless act of violence," Long Prairie Police Chief Chuck Eldred said.
Todd County Attorney Gaylord Saetre said he would ask a grand jury for
first-degree murder indictments. Bail was set at $3 million each for
Earl and Carpenter, who both asked for a court-appointed attorney. Their
next court date was set for May 12. Asked in court if he had anything to
say, Earl said he just wanted to go free so he could get his own
attorney to "help me prove my innocence." Earl, of Brooklyn Park, was
polite and sat up straight and faced District Judge Sally Robertson
during the hearing. Carpenter, of Minneapolis, slouched in his seat and
appeared defiant. "I'm not guilty until proven guilty, right?" Carpenter
asked the judge. About 70 spectators filled the courtroom while others
had to wait outside. According to the complaint, Earl admitted to
investigators that he and Carpenter killed the Long Prairie family while
burglarizing their home. Earl told officers he and Carpenter had no
prior relationship with their victims. Asked about the discrepancy
between Earl's claim of innocence in court and what he allegedly told
investigators, Dave Bjerga of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension replied: "He's putting a different spin on who did what."
While Long Prairie police discussed details of the killings there,
Minneapolis police held a news conference of their own to accuse Earl
and Carpenter in the April 17 killings of William Schwartz, 88, and his
daughter, Claudia Schwartz, 50, who were found dead in their northeast
Minneapolis home. Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson said the
Schwartzes had been severely beaten and stabbed and their throats
slashed. The father was in frail health; his daughter was paralyzed on
her right side and neighbors said she had epilepsy. Police believe the
cash taken from the Schwartz home included rare coins. Olson said a bank
in Plymouth reported receiving several coins that appeared similar, but
they had not yet been examined. "The bottom line here is money," Olson
told reporters in Minneapolis. Neither Eldred nor the complaint said
what might have been stolen from the Long Prairie home. Until Brooklyn
Park police received a tip, nothing had pointed investigators to the
suspects, who were arrested about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at a house in
northeast Minneapolis not far from the Schwartz home. Olson said both of
the men tried to pull guns on the officers, but they were subdued
without shots being fired. The guns in their possession appeared to have
been stolen from Becker County, and police were investigating whether
the men may have been involved in other crimes in Minnesota. Back in
Long Prairie, police tape and sheriff's deputies kept residents away
from the family's house. Mourners left flowers and posters with pictures
of Katie in a neighbor's yard. As for punishment of the killers, Shannon
Allord, 21, a friend of Katie Zapzalka, said: "They deserve the same
treatment they gave an innocent family."
Suspect admitted Long Prairie killings to girlfriend Watch video
DATE: May 8, 2003
LONG
PRAIRIE, Minn. - Two men accused of robbing and slaying three members of
a Long Prairie family killed them to eliminate witnesses, court
documents suggest. Christopher Earl and Jonathan Carpenter are charged
with second-degree murder in the deaths of Hollis Chromey and her
children, Katie Zapzalka, 18, and Jerrod Zapzalka, 16. Investigators
believe the two men were after gas money. A search warrant affidavit
sheds new light on what authorities believe happened in the family's
home April 28. Earl's girlfriend, Lisa M. Madison, told investigators
that Earl said that he and Carpenter used a hammer in the killings and
then left it by a door. Police found a bloodied maul just inside the
front door. Earl told Madison that the victims said they had just moved
into their house and didn't have anything, according to the court
document. The two men talked about the possibility that they might be
identified by Chromey and her children, so they chose to kill them,
Madison told investigators. All three victims had their throats slit and
were struck with the hammer, the document said. Evidence from the scene
also indicates that two of the victims - apparently Chromey and her son
- were bound with duct tape and electrical tape and struggled in an
attempt to free themselves before they suffered fatal injuries, it said.
The document was filed as part of the search of Earl's car and released
Wednesday. Among the things investigators found when they searched it
were ammunition, Canadian and Minnesota road maps and jewelry. Earl also
gave details to investigators that could only be known to someone
involved with the crime, the document said. Long Prairie Police Chief
Chuck Eldred and Todd County Sheriff David Kircher declined to comment
on the new details. "We're trying to respect the family," Kircher said.
"It could be harmful to the family to hear some of these details." Dave
Bjerga, a special agent with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, also
declined to talk about what happened in the house. "It's so focal to the
grand jury," he said. Prosecutors plan to ask a grand jury to indict the
men for first-degree murder. Earl, 20, of Brooklyn Park, and Carpenter,
21, of Minneapolis, are also being investigated in the slayings of
William Schwartz, 88, and his daughter Claudia, 50, who were stabbed and
beaten last month in their northeast Minneapolis home. Tim Brand, Earl's
stepfather, said his son told him that he witnessed the killing of the
people in Long Prairie but that he did not do it himself. "He said he
was guilty of the burglary, the robbery, but he did not kill anybody,
and I believe him 100 percent," Brand said. "He witnessed something very
brutal. He has a lot of remorse for the families and victims." Brand
also said his son told him he was not involved in the Minneapolis
deaths.
Charges filed in Schwartz slayings
Police complaint details brutal nature of crime
DATE: May 10, 2003
Jonathan Carpenter broke the back-door window to the small house in
northeast Minneapolis and told his buddy Christopher Earl to come in.
Hours earlier, Carpenter was alone when he killed the home's residents
William Schwartz, 88, and his 50-year-old daughter, Claudia, according
to charges filed Friday. Their bodies, beaten with their throats slit,
still lay face down in blood in the house, with bags full of money,
coins and jewelry nearby. The criminal complaint filed in Hennepin
County District Court gives a version of events based on interviews
police said they conducted with the men, who also are charged in the
slayings of a mother and her two teenage children in Long Prairie, Minn.
According to the complaint, Earl didn't know what he would see when
Carpenter led him into the house in the 1600 block of NE. Main St. But
he helped Carpenter load the bags into a car, and they drove to a
Brooklyn Park hotel to divide the property, the charges said. Why
Carpenter burglarized the Schwartz home on April 15 - apparently
choosing it at random - and killed the father and daughter remains a
mystery. Authorities have said that two weeks later, they broke into the
Long Prairie home of Hollis Chromey and her children for gas money. The
men told police they slit the victims' throats in Long Prairie so the
family couldn't identify them, according to court documents. Said
Everett Giles, Carpenter's father: "If he confessed to the crimes, all I
can do is throw my hands up in the air and tell the families how sorry I
am. If I could take their place, I would. But God doesn't work like
that." The five killings were linked after an acquaintance of Earl's
walked into the Brooklyn Park Police Department on April 30 and gave
investigators information that would only be known by the suspects.
Carpenter and Earl were arrested that day at Giles' home, four blocks
from the Schwartz home. "It just sickens me to realize the pain and
torment that he put my dad and Claudia through," said Pamela Schwartz.
Friday's complaint charges Carpenter, 21, with four counts of
first-degree murder and Earl, 20, with four counts of being an
accomplice to murder. The six-page complaint describes the Minneapolis
killings this way: William and Claudia Schwartz were last seen eating
lunch at a senior center April 15. Earl told investigators that he was
in a car with Carpenter and two women that evening when Carpenter said
he had to pick up some money and directed the driver to northeast
Minneapolis. Earl and Carpenter broke into the Schwartz home, took the
bags of property and went to the hotel. The bags had jewelry and
thousands of dollars in cash, and strong boxes with coins and personal
papers. Relatives said William Schwartz kept cash in a file cabinet and
strong boxes under his bed. The bodies were discovered two days later,
after a relative noticed the broken back door window. Carpenter told
investigators that he killed them by himself. A few days later, the
suspects went to property formerly owned by one of the men's relatives
in Grass Lake Township in Kanabec County. They burned clothing and
tossed the strong boxes into the fire. Earl said he gave some of the
jewelry to his girlfriend and bought a Ford Crown Victoria. Earl and
Carpenter were scheduled to appear in court Monday in Todd County, where
they are being held in lieu of $3 million bail on charges in the Long
Prairie slayings. "We will work as a united front in the prosecution of
these cases," said Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar. "Evidence
relevant in the Minneapolis case is relevant in the Long Prairie case."
Police are investigating whether the women who were with Earl and
Carpenter the day the Schwartzes died had a role in the killings,
Klobuchar said. Oftentimes people are slain in Minneapolis because they
are involved in lifestyles that put them at risk, said police Capt. Mike
Martin. When a case involves innocent victims such as the Schwartzes, it
puts fear into a community, he said. Earl and Carpenter have also been
linked to a home invasion in Brooklyn Park on April 6 and the theft of
guns and jewelry from the home of Carpenter's former girlfriend near
Detroit Lakes, Minn., on April 29, the day after they allegedly killed
Chromey, 49, and her two children - Katie Zapzalka, 18, and Jerrod
Zapzalka, 16. Investigators are reexamining the death of a Maple Grove
woman, but they don't have any evidence connecting the men to her death.
Police in Florida have also called the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension to ask about some unsolved crimes. Giles, Carpenter's
father, said that he talked with him and that the son asked about his
two children and girlfriends but he never said, "Pop, I killed these
people." Meanwhile, a sense of relief came over Earl's father when he
learned that his son wasn't charged with murder in the Schwartz case.
Rob Reynolds said that his sister talked with Earl last weekend and that
he told her he didn't know what he was walking into when Carpenter took
him to Schwartzes' house. "He threatened to kill Chris if he said
anything about the murders," Reynolds said. "He was scared to death of
him." He said he hadn't talked with his son since he was in jail because
he didn't believe Earl was involved in the killings, but he plans to
visit him this weekend. Reynolds said he had heard his son and Carpenter
met while in a juvenile detention center, but Reynolds said he never
knew about Carpenter until a couple of months ago. Earl came over to his
house several times between the killings, he said. When Carpenter
visited, Earl "wouldn't let his 2-year-old half-brother near him,"
Reynolds said. "I wish he could have said something to me and I could
have helped, but Carpenter stuck to him like glue." Daughter grieves
Pamela Schwartz, the daughter of homicide victim William Schwartz, wrote
a statement in reaction to the deaths of her father and her sister
Claudia. Excerpts follow: "Imagine yourself almost deaf and suddenly an
evil man confronts you in your own home. You're not out in the wrong
part of town, at a bad hour or even hanging with the wrong crowd. You're
just sitting in your recliner," she wrote. "Now remember you're 88 years
old, long past your fighting years, but your wisdom tells you you're
engulfed in danger. Danger you may not come out of. The sheer terror
racing through your body, knowing that you can't even protect yourself,
let alone your vulnerable daughter. A daughter you've been able to
protect her whole life. A daughter who has depended on you. After all,
you're dad. And dad always comes through. That is, until now." She wrote
that Claudia Schwartz suffered through a bout of meningitis when she was
a toddler and was mentally retarded. "Claudia just turned 50, she
embraced it," Pamela Schwartz wrote. "She loved her birthday and loved
getting cards and presents." She said Claudia was paralyzed on her right
side and couldn't have run away. She wore a brace and was prone to
stumbling. "And he would always be there to get her up," she wrote. "How
could a coward be doing this? How could a coward be so inhumane?"
Exclusive First Interview With Accused Killer Jonathon Carpenter
DATE: May 22, 2003
MINNEAPOLIS -- Accused killer Jonathon Carpenter spoke for the first
time yesterday in an exclusive interview with WCCO-TV's investigative
reporter David Schechter. Carpenter's revealing interview brought some
relief to neighbors and friends of the victims. Carpenter is charged in
a gruesome killing spree that ran from Minneapolis to Todd County
earlier this spring. Carpenter and Christopher Earl are accused of
killing William Schwartz and his daughter Claudia in northeast
Minneapolis, and then Holly Chromey and her two teenage children in Long
Prairie. Schechter conducted the interview with Carpenter yesterday in
the Long Prairie jail. In the course of the interview Carpenter talked
about his addiction to methamphetamines -- drugs he says kept him from
sleeping for up to nine days at a time. He also told WCCO 4 News how
that led him to psychotic behavior over the past few months. Carpenter
apologized to the families of the five alleged murder victims. He also
said he's sorry for the pain he's caused his family and two children.
The five murders have been described by police as random robberies.
Carpenter's admissions were received with some relief by neighbors of
the Schwartzes and friends of Chromey's daughter, Katie Zapzalka, who
were glad to know that Carpenter took responsibility for his actions.
Schechter had been following the case since the initial killings and was
invited by Carpenter yesterday to come to Long Prairie to hear his side
of the story.
Possible New Charges In Crime Spree
DATE: July 1, 2003
The
WCCO-TV I-Team has learned new charges could be filed against two men
accused of killing 5 Minnesotans during a murder spree three months ago.
The possible charges stem from an armed robbery that happened just
before the killing began. The charges could also link the pair to a new
partner in crime. The I-Team has already linked Jonathan Carpenter and
Christopher Earl to two unsolved crimes in Brooklyn Park: the robbery of
a gas station, and an armed home invasion. But now, the I-Team has also
learned the Hennepin County Attorney's office is reviewing charges in
the home invasion case against Carpenter, Earl, and a convicted sex
offender. Hands and feet bound, heads covered. A man and his wife, who
did not want to be identified, were robbed in their home at gunpoint.
"They did threaten," said one of the victims. "Both with cutting parts
of the body. And with shooting." Previously, the I-Team connected
Carpenter and Earl to the home invasion by tracking down a stolen opal
ring taken during the robbery. Then, last week on the phone, Carpenter
confessed to the crime. Now, the I-Team has learned that the Hennepin
County Attorney is reviewing whether to bring charges against Carpenter,
Earl and convicted child molester Tom Rigoli. Sources say he was the
getaway driver for the Brooklyn Park home invasion that took place just
weeks before five Minnesotans were brutally murdered in their homes. "I
know we were at risk," said one of the victims of the home invasion.
"But I didn't know to the degree of risk that is now apparent." And the
I-Team has also learned that a woman, also in the getaway car, may also
be charged in this case. Rigoli is currently in jail for a parole
violation. Last week, Carpenter pled guilty in the Long Prairie murders
of Holly Chromey, and her children Katie and Jared Zapzalka. He told
WCCO he plans to plead guilty in the Northeast Minneapolis murders of
William Schwartz and his daughter Claudia. Christopher Earl is still
facing trial.
Minn. Man Apparently Kills Self in Prison
DATE: July 11, 2003
ST. CLOUD, Minn. - A man who admitted killing five people, including a
family of three during a random robbery, apparently hanged himself in
prison because he couldn't live with what he had done, authorities and
relatives said Friday. Jonathan Carpenter, 21, pleaded guilty last
month to three killings in Long Prairie and confessed to two in
Minneapolis. Officials at the state prison in St. Cloud told the
Sherburne County sheriff that Carpenter hanged himself in his cell
Thursday night and efforts to revive him failed, Sheriff Bruce Anderson
said. Guards conducting regular rounds around 10:30 p.m. and 10:55 p.m.
saw Carpenter writing something. Around 11:20 p.m. they found him
hanging from bed linens tied to the bars of his cell, Anderson said. "A
suicide note was found in the cell and all indications from the ongoing
investigation into Carpenter's death point to suicide," Anderson said.
His mother, Sandra Carpenter, said he had been depressed and couldn't
live with what he did. The Corrections Department issued a statement
saying no foul play was suspected but an autopsy would be performed.
Carpenter, from Minneapolis, was sentenced to three life terms without
parole for the April 28 killings of Holly Chromey, 49, and her children,
Katie Zapzalka, 18, and Jerrod Zapzalka, 16. Carpenter said he and
Christopher Earl, 20, of Brooklyn Park, broke into the family's Long
Prairie home at random. When he entered his plea June 24, Carpenter said
the two were looking for gas money and picked Chromey's house because it
was unlocked. Murder charges were still pending against Carpenter in the
April 17 beating and stabbing deaths of William Schwartz, 88, and his
50-year-old daughter, Claudia, in northeast Minneapolis. Carpenter had
confessed to those killings, too. "It's been a very horrendous three
months," Sandra Carpenter said. "I talked to my son on Tuesday night and
he couldn't live with what he did. It was just too horrendous for even
him. And he had a great sorrow for the people and his family." Earl is
charged with being an accomplice to murder in the Minneapolis case. He
faces trial in both cases.
Carpenter: Murder-For-Hire Plot Drew Him To Long Prairie
DATE: Jul 14, 2003
Minneapolis - Before he committed suicide in prison last week, Jonathan
Carpenter told WCCO-TV that he and a friend ended up in Long Prairie as
part of a murder-for-hire plot targeting someone other than the three
people he says they killed. Carpenter told the station in an interview
last Wednesday, the day before he hanged himself in prison, that he and
friend Christopher Earl went to Long Prairie April 28 because a Brooklyn
Park woman they knew had asked them to kill her mother, who lived there.
"She asked us to take care of business. She says she's got a grudge
against her mom, and she wants us to do her a favor, on Mother's Day,
really." Asked what kind of favor, Carpenter replied: "Like go in the
house. Either rob her, or hurt her in some way. Or kill her. She was
like, 'It would be best off if she ended up dead.' That was her exact
words." The 33-year-old woman is a neighbor of Earl's family in Brooklyn
Park, WCCO said. Carpenter told the station he and Earl met with the
woman three weeks before the Long Prairie killings of Holly Chromey, and
her two children, Katie Zapzalka, 18, and Jarrod Zapzalka, 16. When he
pleaded guilty to three murder charges June 24, Carpenter told the court
the woman had "basically hired us for a hit" on her mother, and that she
told them she'd collect the insurance money, and he and Earl could have
whatever they stole. Carpenter told WCCO he didn't take the request
seriously at first. "At first, not all serious," he said. "I thought it
was jokingly, when Chris brought it to me. But then when we sat down and
talked to her about it, and she handed me the address. Then it got
pretty serious. Got real serious. That's when I started believing she'd
wanted it done." Carpenter had confessed to investigators and WCCO
earlier that a few weeks after his conversation with the woman, he
killed William Schwartz, 88, and his daughter Claudia, 50, in their
northeast Minneapolis home. Carpenter had said he killed them alone and
that Earl later helped him burglarize the house. To lay low, Carpenter
said, he and Earl went on a road trip west to a friend's house near
Detroit Lakes, and on the way saw a sign for Long Prairie. "Chris wakes
up and he's like, 'Hey, Long Prairie's right over there.' Cause he's
looking at the map. He's like, 'You want to go do that?' I'm like,
'Yeah, whatever.' Then we decided we weren't going to kill her. We were
just going to go and rob her," Carpenter said. Carpenter said he and
Earl searched for the address that the woman had written down, which
he'd kept in his wallet, but they couldn't find the house. He said they
gave up after an hour of looking. Carpenter also told WCCO they tried
seven or eight doors before they found the door to Chromey's house
unlocked. When there was nothing to steal, Carpenter raped Katie
Zapzalka, and then killed her. He said it was Earl who killed Katie's
mother and brother. The Brooklyn Park woman has not been charged with
anything, but the matter is being investigated, Todd County Sheriff
David Kircher said Monday. Asked about Carpenter's allegations that she
hired them to kill her mother, the woman told WCCO-TV: "I don't know
what you're talking about. ... No comment." Carpenter told WCCO he took
responsibility for his actions and was sorry for what he did. He also
said he was sorry he had ever met the woman. "I knew her through Chris.
And I trusted her because Chris said, 'Trust her.' Which was a mistake,"
he said. Earl is charged with murder in the Long Prairie killings and is
charged with being an accomplice to murder in the Minneapolis case. He
has not entered pleas in either case. Earl has a pretrial hearing in
Long Prairie scheduled for Aug. 4. Earl's attorney, Ruth Lee, said
Monday that she hadn't had a chance to discuss Carpenter's statements
with Earl, but that Earl maintains his innocence. "Jonathan's
interpretations of the events are a lot different than Mr. Earl's, and I
think I'll just leave it at that," Lee said.
