A West Springfield man was ordered held without bail Tuesday on charges that he raped and murdered 24-year-old Lisa Ziegert in Agawam in 1992, officials said, marking the first time a suspect faced a judge in the notorious case that has haunted Western Massachusetts for decades.
Gary E. Schara, 48, was arraigned in Westfield District Court on charges of kidnapping, aggravated rape, and murder. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
The court proceeding followed a stunning announcement on Monday that authorities had arrested Schara over the weekend in Connecticut after a failed suicide attempt. A DNA match to the grisly crime scene, and writings from Schara himself in which he allegedly confessed to the killing, led officials to charge him.
His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 21. His public defender could not immediately be reached for comment.
A reporter for the Springfield Republican newspaper tweeted that a woman shouted “hope you burn in hell’’ as court officers escorted Schara, clad in orange jail garb, to a waiting sheriff’s vehicle outside the courthouse.
Ziegert, a teacher’s aide at Agawam Middle School, was working alone at her second job at Brittany’s Card & Gift Shoppe on the night of April 15, 1992, when someone kidnapped her, according to Boston Globe archives. Police believed the killer took Ziegert out through a side door that led to a narrow alley.
Her body was found days later, on Easter Sunday, in a wooded area off Route 75 in Agawam near the Connecticut border. Authorities said at the time that she suffered multiple stab wounds and was killed when the attacker slit her throat.
Ziegert’s mother, Dee Ziegert, told reporters during a news conference Monday that she told herself, “yes, we got him’’ when investigators informed her that Schara had been apprehended.
“She was a good person who had a beautiful smile,’’ Dee Ziegert said. “Who warmed a room when she walked in. And her light lives on in us, and we miss her every minute.’’
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.
