Christine McWeeny: Cleveland 1973

    

   Christine Rose McWeeny was 18. She was born in 1955 to Thomas and Marilyn McWeeny. She had an older brother and a younger sister. They lived at 3537 West 48th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended St. Boniface Elementary and was a graduate of Erieview Catholic High School in Cleveland. She worked for Ohio Bell Telephone as a Secretary. On Wednesday October 24th she went with a friend to see a folk singer who was a friend of theirs.  They wanted to be in the audience and support that friend at a little pub gig. It was a weeknight and Christine had to get up the next day but she was there for her friend. 

  The next morning, on Thursday October 25th 1973 Christine was on her way to work. She had about a ten minute walk to catch the downtown bus each morning. But she never made it onto the bus on October 25th 1973. 

   A neighbor, Mrs. Oxley, heard a scream at about 6:55 that morning from what she thought was the Eichorn and 47th Street area.  It was the kind of scream that prompted her to throw on a robe and run outside on that chilly morning to look around. A paperboy on his route also reported hearing the scream. They didn’t see what had happened though or who had screamed. 

  It seems that someone had grabbed Christine quickly and managed to get her into a home or a vehicle very quickly. Perhaps someone had been watching her and knew her usual route and what time she would be passing. 

  When Christine missed work that day and never came home her father said he knew then that he would never see her alive again.  She was that responsible and punctual.  She set her watch by the official time over the telephone every morning. (Before cell phones and digital watches you had to wind your own watch and set the time. There was a phone number you could call to get the current time.) 

   Her family and friends were looking everywhere that evening. Multiple searches were conducted. Large numbers of her Ohio Bell colleagues volunteered to help look for Christine. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas passed with no sign. I can’t imagine watching the seasons change and the holidays come and go knowing your daughter is missing. 

   

   In November Ohio Bell Telephone Co. offered a $5000 reward for information leading to a suspect. 

   Evidence was found on Mill Hollow Lane in Strongsville, southwest of Christine’s home by about a 25 minute drive.  Mill Hollow Lane is a short dead end wooded lane. Today there are quite a few houses along the road but I imagine in 1973 it was an empty and out of the way place. A blood stained bedspread and duffle bag were found there. Both were sent to the FBI lab for analysis. Blood of Christine’s type was found on both. Hair and fibers were found in the duffle bag.  

   Neighbors were questioned because Christine disappeared from the sidewalk in her quiet neighborhood.  Police felt that she must have been dragged into a home or into a car. No one had seen a suspicious car leaving the neighborhood. 

  She disappeared on a Thursday.  I wonder if the killer watched her all week and knew exactly when she would be walking by. 

  A tip led them to the home of Lee F. Schroeder.  He lived on the route Christine walked each day.  He lived very close to the Oxley home where Mrs. Oxley had run out of her house to try to help the person who screamed so frighteningly on October 25th, 1973. 

  Schroeder allowed police to search his home. Hair, blood and carpet fibers from there matched that of Christine and the found bedspread and duffle bag. He was arrested and charged even before Christine’s body was found. The evidence was that compelling.

 

   Christine was missing for five agonizing months. More searches were conducted as the trial date for Schroeder was approaching. Her parents planned a vigil service for Christine’s birthday. 

   A part time 16 year old golf course worker took a shortcut to work in March of 1974 at the Valleaire Golf Course south of the town of North Royalton. As he made his way through an area of the course that was seldom traveled through; he came across the skeletal remains that were later identified as Christine. Christine’s parents canceled the planned memorial vigil and instead planned her funeral mass.

   Lee F. Schroeder was tried and convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder. He wouldn’t admit to the murder but instead said that he “blacked out” and didn’t remember doing it. He waived his right to a jury trial and instead a panel of three judges conducted his trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. 

  I found a 1983 Appeal that was denied.  It seems like he did spend his life in prison.  Lee F. Schroeder died on November 21st,  2022 and is buried in Ohio. Because he had been in the Navy before he murdered Christine McWeeny, he is buried in a military cemetery with a Veteran’s grave marker. 

  Christine Rose McWeeny was a good student, a solid citizen and worker.  300 people attended her funeral Mass at St. Boniface Church. It was the same church she had been baptized in as an infant. Her coworkers cared about her so much that they used their free time to search for her. Her employers saw enough value in her to offer a $5000 reward in her case. She was just beginning her life as an adult.  What might she have achieved if she had been allowed to live? 

   Rest in Peace Christine.