Tales from the Morgue: The Pied Piper of Tucson, Part 4

Detectives Ponder Key Questions In Slaying

By GORDON PETERSON

Were three teen-age Tucson girls killed, and how?

Do the killings involve a "sex club" or "party ring" as the mother of one of the victims believes? Is there really a diary or diaries which tell of another killing?

Where does informer Richard Bruns fit into the picture? Why did he decide to contact police nearly three months after Gretchen and Wendy Fritz disappeared and apparently were killed, and nearly a year and a half after Alleen Rowe disappeared and apparently was killed?

While these questions and others continue to puzzle investigators, two things become increasingly clear. There was some sort of interrelationship among all the principals and it wasn't always friendly.

Gretchen, 17, and Wendy, 13, knew Charles Howard Schmid Jr., 23, of E. Adams St., who is accused of killing them and being involved in the death of Alleen Rowe. Gretchen had dated him, and he had visited her at the home of their parents, Dr. and Mrs. James M. Fritz, E. Elm St.

Schmid, since married to a 15-year-old, also had dated Alleen Rowe, 15, daughter of Mrs. Norma Rowe, a registered nurse, who lives at Calle Cuernavaca.

Mary French, 19, accused along with Schmid and John Saunders in Miss Rowe's death, knew Alleen and lived only four doors from her at Calle Cuernavaca until a few months ago.

Saunders, 19, had lived only a few blocks from the Rowes and was acquainted with them.

Bruns, 19, of E. Winsett St., knew Schmid and said he was shown Miss Rowe's grave while hunting with the suspect. Bruns also named Schmid in the slaying of the Fritz girls and led police to their bodies. And it was his information which led to the arrest of Saunders and Miss French.

Many facts in the case fit together like the pieces of a well-made jigsaw puzzle, while others seem to have come from a different box.

Gretchen and Wendy Fritz were the daughters of a prominent chest and heart surgeon who has practiced in Tucson for about 12 years. Alleen Rowe's parents are divorced; her father lives in Arlington, Tex.; her mother, a registered nurse, works to support the family. They had lived here only a little more than a year when Alleen disappeared.

Schmid's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Schmid Sr., who once operated Katharine's of Tucson, a nursing home located at 1020 N. Woodland Ave.

Little is known about Saunders' parents, other than that they lived near the Rowes before Alleen's disappearance. Even less is known about Miss French's background.

Bruns' father, John D., is an electrical technician; his mother is a manicurist.

Alleen Rowe, Mary French and John Saunders all attended Palo Verde High School; Schmid attended Tucson High; Gretchen Fritz graduated from Rincon High; her sister was in junior high; Bruns attended Both Rincon and Tucson highs.

Gretchen graduated with her class and with a good record. Bruns was expelled or suspended from high school four times. The others range all the way in between the two exteremes.

Alleen Rowe and Mary French were neighbors, and Saunders lived not far away. But the Fritz girls lived several miles from Rowe, French and Saunders, and some 20 blocks from Schmid.

Bruns' home is between the two locations.

Mrs. Fritz is declining to talk with reporters. "I'd rather not," she said. "I don't think there's any point, truly."

Dr. Fritz left instructions with his receptionist that any reporters who came to see him should be directed to his attorney.

That attorney, Richard D. Grand, praised the work of the police and county attorney's office and firmly denied any knowledge of or belief in a "sex club" or "party ring."

Bruns said he had been instructed not to talk to reporters. "I'm not supposed to talk to anyone," he said. Then, when questioned further, he replied only, "They told me not to talk to anybody." Bruns won't say who "they" are.

Mrs. Rowe, on the other hand, has talked freely with reporters ever since her daughter disappeared, and has solicited their aid in determining what happened to the girl.

And she contends that Alleen had been invited, urged and even ordered to join what she termed a "sex club," and believes that her daughter's death may have been a result of her refusing to join. She has consistently condemned law enforcement officers for what she considers inept handling of the situation and failure to take the case seriously.

William Heilig, a private detective hired by the Fritzes shortly after their daughters disappeared, quoted Schmid as saying he provided numerous girls for "parties" for students. Police say they have found no evidence of any such club or ring. Yet they have files on some 200 persons, apparently all or nearly all students, who they suspect may be connected with the case in some way.

Did one or more of these persons move the bodies? Or were they moved?

Law enforcement officers have spent many, many hours with shovels, probes, metal detectors and other equipment searching for the remains of Alleen Rowe, even though the supposed site of her grave was pointed out to them near Harrison and Golf Links Roads.

Could she have been buried so deeply that officials couldn't find her easily, although the suspects termed her's a "shallow" grave?

Yet the remains of the Fritz girls were found lying on top of the ground, not buried at all. But tire tracks and other evidence indicated many persons had been near the site where the bodies were found. Would other people walk by the bodies of two girls and not bother to call police? Or were the bodies moved to that spot only shortly before police were called by Bruns?

Why did Deborah Ellison, 16, of S. 4th Ave., leave town immediately after police questioned her? Was she only afraid of the police, afraid of being questioned? Or did she fear for her life after telling detectives that Gretchen Fritz possessed a man's diary which outlines the slaying of a man and tells the location of his grave?

She knew both Schmid and the Fritz girls. She attended Pueblo High, but dropped out after being absent 24 times in the first three months of her sophomore year. She had been absent 27 times during her first year at Pueblo.

Does Bruns also fear for his life after what he told police? He didn't comment on this matter, but students at Palo Verde High, the school attended by one of the victims and two of the suspects, had some ideas about it.

"There's a lot more kids in that club (the alleged sex club)," one of them said. "What do they (the police) think is going to happen to Bruns? Pretty soon maybe they'll be digging for his grave."

Commenting on the search for Miss Rowe's grave, one student said, "Somebody probably moved it. What have they got? Three of them in jail? How many do you think are in that club?" he asked with a smile.

"They won't find her," he added.

Speculation on the reason for the killings is rampant. Some believe all three were killed because of their knowledge of the so-called sex club or "little mafia," which rumor says would provide girls, liquor and marijuana or dope for parties — for a price.

Some think the Fritz girls were killed because they knew about Miss Rowe's death and the killer was afraid they would talk.

Another theory is that Gretchen Fritz was slain with jealousy as a motive; and her sister was unfortunate enough to be a witness and thus met her death.

And police have not entirely discounted the theory of someone "killing for thrills."

Whatever the motive, the principals in the case were scattered throughout the country by the time law enforcement agencies were ready to act.

Bruns first called Tucson police from Columbus, Ohio, then was returned to Tucson.

Schmid was picked up for questioning in San Diego by apparently returned to Tucson of his own free will before being arrested on the murder charge.

Saunders was arrested in New Branford, Conn.

And Miss French was arrested in Belton, Tex.

Miss Ellison was found in California and returned to Tucson, where she was expected to be questioned further, although there was no indication she was involved in any crime.

Police are still trying to determine whether Sandra (Dusty) Hughes, a 14-year-old Palo Verde High sophomore who disappeared Sept. 10, was in any way involved. Police speculated that she simply ran away from home for personal reasons. Her mother disagreed, saying, "She has never run away from home and she had no money with her."