Trail of clues found in parsonage garage | Forensic Files

During some surveillance, I noticed that Mr. Shurmer had always pulled his vehicle inside straight into the garage,
which would leave the passenger side to the right. We did a video reconstructing
the scene at the at the parsonage. Uh we obtained a PT Cruiser, same make model.
We put the vehicle inside the garage and basically reconstructed the blood stain
patterns that we found in the garage floor with the PT Cruiser. We're basically reconstructing the scene and
bringing it to life the best we can. Uh we learned that the blood stained patterns on the concrete floor in the
garage match perfectly to the location where the vehicle had been parked that evening. Mr. Sherman was questioned
about the blood and he came up with a story about how he and Betty had been moving some wood that had been stacked
in the garage and the wood pile fell and cut both of them. And Mr. Shurmer and his wife stacked the wood outside in a
fire pit area and the troopers went out and meticulously combed through that wood pile looking for blood evidence and
things would support or substantiate what he said. And at the bottom of that wood pile were some local newspapers and
the date on those local newspapers were September 2008. It would be impossible for Betty to have
helped to move that wood because she was dead on July 16th, 2008. The information told us that Betty was
bleeding prior to getting in the car. Uh she was assaulted somewhere outside of the garage, carried or brought into the
back door, drugged alongside the vehicle. She bled all over the side of the uh garage floor and was placed into
the passenger compartment of the vehicle before leaving the parsonage. This uh completely contradicts exactly what he
was saying that she uh was killed in the car crash. It's impossible. She was assaulted at the home. She was placed in
the vehicle and then he staged the car crash to make it appear as if she sustained her injuries

Pocono Township Det. Jim Wagner shows "48 Hours" what he found in the parsonage garage as he investigated the death of Betty Schirmer.

Brief Summary

Mr. Shurmer staged a car crash to cover up his wife's murder, as evidence contradicts his story.

Key points

Blood Evidence Reconstructed. Investigators reconstruct the scene to analyze blood patterns in the garage.
Inconsistencies in Mr. Shurmer's Story. Mr. Shurmer's account of moving wood contradicts evidence of Betty's death date.
The Truth About Betty's Death. Evidence reveals Betty was assaulted before being placed in the vehicle.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

She was assaulted at the home.

Revealing the truth about Betty's death.

1:56WatchJan 5, 2014

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