A Little Girl Went Trick-or-Treating in 1973. The Horror That Followed Still Haunts Halloween

Dressed in the costume of a hobo, Lisa French, 9, set off from her Wisconsin home on the evening of Oct. 31, 1973, to go trick-or-treating alone. She never returned.

When news of her disappearance spread, the working-class community of Fond du Lac immediately rallied. More than 5,000 community members joined law enforcement, including National Guard helicopters, in the search for the fourth-grade student, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported.

Tragically, two days later, a farmer found the girl’s nude body inside a plastic garbage bag in the town of Taycheedah, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported. She died from asphyxia and had been sexually assaulted, per the outlet.

At the time of her death, her mother, Maryann Gehring, described the girl as “a kind person” who helped others.

“When she was 9 years old she came home from school one day and she said there’s a little girl in school who doesn’t have nice clothes, and she was wondering if she could go through some of the clothes she didn’t wear and she should take them to school with her, and she did,” Gehring told WBAY . “She took a big bag of clothes to school for this little girl.”

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It took nine months before police finally arrested her killer, 25-year-old Gerald Turner, who allegedly confessed to the rape and killing, according to WISN.

Turner, a machinist, lived just three doors down from Lisa’s family, according to Treasure Coast Newspapers.

During his trial, a psychologist at Taycheedah Correctional Institution testified that Turner, who was dubbed the Halloween Killer, had “a cold disregard for people, mainly females,” per Treasure Coast Newspapers. “He does not have conscience control to inhibit his impulses for pleasure and to conform to society’s laws.”

Turner said during trial that he didn’t kill Lisa. He acknowledged that he’d previously signed a confession admitting to the killing, but claimed he only did so because he “got sick and tired of being harassed by police calling on me,” Treasure Coast Newspapers reported.

Turner was convicted of second-degree murder and rape and sentenced to 38 years in prison on Feb. 4, 1975.

During sentencing, Circuit Court Judge Milton Meister said Turner “impressed me as showing no remorse … no feeling of repentance,” per Treasure Coast Newspapers.

“It was terrible what he did to that little girl,” former Fond du Lac police Detective Melvin Heller told WISN in 2019. “It isn’t the same here in Fond du Lac. Everybody that lives here always knows about Lisa French.”

Turner was released from prison in 1992 after serving 17 years, but went back in the same year because of a release date technicality, according to Fox 11.

He got out six years later but returned to prison in 2003 on a parole violation after authorities found pornographic images on his computer, per Fox 11.

In 2018, the state filed a suit to have Turner considered a sexually violent offender under the violent sex offender law and to keep him in custody indefinitely, Fox 11 reported.

A hearing to determine whether he should stay in custody is scheduled for July 2025, per Fox 11.

Turner, who is now 75, is currently being held in a supervised living facility in Mauston, according to the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry.  

His defense attorney and the attorney general’s office could not be reached for comment.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.