When an investment banking analyst is stabbed to death on a fall morning along a popular hiking trail in Wisconsin, his murderer seemingly slips out of sight despite multiple eyewitnesses seeing him. To-date the killer remains at-large and authorities need your help.Less than a year later, another family suffers a similar loss when an avid photographer and newly-wed is gunned down by a sniper while hiking outside of one of the busiest cities in the world. Though these two cases are not connected, both victims’ family members all want the same thing: justice. John Schmutzer: If you have any information regarding the murder of John Schmutzer please call 1-888-Tip-Sauk (847-7285). Tips sent digitally are NOT monitored 24/7. If your information is urgent and/or regards public safety, you can still remain anonymous and call the non-recorded tip line at 877-847-7285. You will be able to speak to someone at any time at this number and they can give your information to a law enforcement supervisor in the appropriate jurisdiction immediately.Jason Cortez:If you have any information regarding the murder of Jason Cortez please call Detective Abundis at 213-486-8700. To share anonymously call 800-222-TIPS (8477) or visit WWW.LACRIMESTOPPERS.ORG.La policía de los ángeles tuvo una conferencia de prensa para compartir el boceto de la persona que creen le quitó la vida a Jason, y anunciar una recompensa de $50,000 por información. Por favor compartan esta información a lo largo y ancho. Por favor ayúdenos a encontrar respuestas. Si alguien sabe algo por favor llame al detective Abundis al 213-486-8700. Si quiere compartir anónimamente llame 800-222-TIPS (8477) o visite WWW.LACRIMESTOPPERS.ORG. View source material and photos for this episode at: parkpredators.com/the-attacks Park Predators is an audiochuck production. Connect with us on social media:Instagram: @parkpredators | @audiochuckTwitter: @ParkPredators | @audiochuckFacebook: /ParkPredators | /audiochuckllcTikTok: @audiochuck
Chapter 1: What cases are discussed in this episode?
Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra. And today I'm going to change things up a bit and tell you about two different cases that aren't formally connected, but both victims died in eerily similar scenarios.
Both of these men were murdered fairly recently, and their cases are still unsolved at the time of this publication, which sometimes makes it difficult for me to find a lot of research material beyond the initial flurry of news coverage or law enforcement press releases reporting on the crimes.
But I've done my best to scour the internet and social media looking for as much information as possible. And I feel confident that today's episode is going to be one that will live in your brain like it has mine. And that's a good thing because, like I said, these two murders still need to be solved.
And I hope that discussing them on this show's platform helps get the word out and ensures their names are not forgotten. The first case I'm going to cover unfolded in Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin in the fall of 2020. And yes, there is an actual lake there called Devil's Lake.
This park is located about an hour northwest of the capital city of Madison, Wisconsin, and is super popular with hikers, campers, and bikers. It covers more than 10,000 acres of public land in Sauk County, which is actually a part of the Ho-Chunk Native American Nation.
The Ho-Chunk refer to the park in their native tongue as holy or sacred, most likely because the area has several ancient effigy mounds that are deeply rooted in Ho-Chunk culture. The second case I'll cover in this episode happened less than a year after the incident at Devil's Lake, all the way in Los Angeles, California.
That murder occurred in Ernest E. Debs Regional Park, which sits in the northeast part of the city in the Montecito Heights neighborhood. That recreation space has a much busier vibe than some of the other parks I've discussed on this show. It still has hiking and biking trails, as well as shelters you can reserve for things like barbecues and parties, but it's far less rural.
According to an article by ModernHiker.com, the nearly 300-acre park encompasses a roughly five-mile loop that showcases some really great views of downtown L.A. But there's no denying it's bordered on every side by the city. Which may be one reason why a killer who struck there in September 2021 was able to slip out of the green space and into LA's concrete jungle without being noticed.
Bye.
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Chapter 2: What happened in Devil's Lake State Park?
But the third guy, who just happened to be wearing a dark-colored jacket, remained a person who investigators couldn't identify. In the picture, which is on the blog post for this episode, the guy seems to be casually walking next to the couple. He appears to be middle-aged with dark hair and wearing what looks like khaki pants and a dress shirt beneath a long-sleeved zipper jacket.
And he's looking down at what appears to be a cell phone in his hands. According to WKOW 27's coverage, the other man in the photo who'd already been identified by investigators was a 60-year-old man named Kevin Farris, whose last name may also be pronounced Fares. I'm not really sure.
But either way, Kevin told the news station that the mystery man who'd been walking next to him and his female companion on the trail wasn't someone he recognized. He also admitted he was completely unaware that a murder had occurred in the park before going on his hike a few days after the crime.
When Kevin learned about what happened from speaking with detectives, he said, quote, It's terrible when I think about it. The poor kid. End quote. In late March, about a month later, the district attorney in Sauk County asked a judge to seal the court-authorized search warrants that had been executed so far in the case.
Normally, those documents would be available as a public record within 72 hours of when they were ordered. But the DA put a stop to that to make sure intimate details of the murder investigation remained a secret. At that time, detectives still hadn't learned any information about the mystery man seen in the surveillance photo with Kevin Ferris and his female companion.
So they really needed to catch a break and not sully any possibility of future prosecution. Unfortunately, the investigation waned after that. About seven months after the records were sealed and almost a year after the crime, authorities had gone through more than 150 tips, done a bunch more interviews, executed more than 30 search warrants, and examined dozens of pieces of physical evidence.
But still, the case was cold. The sheriff's office had tracked down a few people they considered persons of interest, but ultimately ruled all of them out. I don't know if the unknown man from the surveillance video was one of those people, though. The lead detective for the sheriff's office said that the murder was gruesome and complex to investigate, mostly because it was a random killing.
Whenever there isn't some sort of tether between a suspect and the victim, it's essentially like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Referring to this challenge, the lead detective said, quote, "'It's more likely that this was an event that was a spur of the moment that was a potentially drug-induced or was potentially a mental illness issue.
The potential is that these two people ran into each other, and for one reason or another, our suspect chose to take the life of John Schmutzler.'" We believe that this was a wrong place, wrong time for John."
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