'The Worst Possible Thing'
Lisa’s mother, Maryann Gehring, began to worry about her daughter’s whereabouts when her 7 p.m. curfew came and went, according to the outlet. By the next day, thousands of community members helped law enforcement scour Fond du Lac for the missing girl.
The frantic search came to an end when two-and-a-half days later, Lisa’s body turned up in a trash bag dumped on a nearby farm. Her clothes were stuffed in a separate sack. Local farmer Gerald Braun made the heartbreaking discovery on his property.
“It was ... the worst possible thing that could have happened,” Wayne Geis, who retired from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department, told the paper in 2017. “I saw that little girl, and I don’t know how any man could do that.”
The Fond du Lac medical examiner determined Lisa had been violently sexually assaulted and strangled before her body was disposed of. She died from shock during the rape, according to a pathologist.
Nine months later, Turner confessed to Lisa’s rape and murder. He was arrested and charged in August 1974. During his trial, he recanted his confession and said investigators pressured him to admit fault. “I got sick and tired of being harassed by police calling on me,” Turner testified during his trial, the paper reported.
Turner, who was later dubbed the “Halloween Killer,” admitted he was “highly sexually motivated” when Lisa came to his front door. However, experts say it likely wasn’t his intention to murder.
“I'm sure when the victim was in his doorway, those [sexual] thoughts came into his mind and he acted on those thoughts,” Christopher Herrmann, associate professor in the Department of Law & Police Science at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice tells A&E Crime + Investigation. “I think after he raped her, he realized she was not in good health, and he felt he needed to get rid of her body.”
Turner was found guilty of second-degree murder, enticing a child for immoral purposes and acts of sexual perversion. He was sentenced to 38 years in prison, according to court documents.
The Legacy of Lisa Ann French's Murder
The tragic event scarred the quaint Wisconsin community forever.
“You can't say 'Halloween' in Fond du Lac without saying 'Lisa Ann French,'” Fond du Lac Police Chief Aaron Goldstein tells A&E Crime + Investigation. “Lisa's story is one I wish I never had to tell.”
The deadly incident more than 50 years ago triggered an immediate reaction in public safety. As a result, Fond du Lac continues to implement strict daylight-only trick-or-treating hours between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Halloween.
“Over the last couple of years, our community is still rallying around finding ways to have kids participate in Halloween activities in safer ways,” Goldstein says.
Trunk-or-treats and community block parties have become more common in the area in an effort to deter kids from going door to door.
“I see this as another step in this legacy for Lisa, knowing that we provide safe ways for our children to have fun,” he adds.
The tragedy also spurred public officials to create a new state law. Wisconsin Chapter 980, also called “Turner’s Law,” allows for sexually violent criminals to be committed to a secured mental health facility after they complete their sentence.
“Turner's Law really changed the way that we're able to still confine dangerous sexual offenders even after the prison term,” Goldstein says.
Turner was released from prison in 1998 but was rearrested in 2003 and sentenced to 15 more years after authorities discovered hundreds of pornographic images on his computer. Upon Turner’s release from prison in 2018, he was immediately transferred to the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston, Wis., In July 2025, a judge denied his request for a new probable cause hearing, according to WLUK-TV.
“I'm hoping that Turner never sees the light of day,” Goldstein admits.
