The Amish Serial Killer Was Anything But Provincial
Stutzman Was Convicted Of Abandoning A Body And Concealing A Death When His Son Died Mysteriously
Photo: Mystery Detektiv / YouTubeOn December 24, 1985, the body of a child was found abandoned on the side of the road in Chester, NE. Authorities were unable to identify the body, so they used the blue pajamas the boy was wearing to form a moniker: Little Boy Blue.
Two years later in 1987, authorities identified the child as Danny Stutzman, who was nine at the time of his death. His father was Eli Stutzman, who was no where to be found in Nebraska. Authorities eventually tracked him down to Texas where they arrested and charged him with felony child abuse. Stutzman cooperated with the police and agreed to be extradited from Texas to Thayer County, NE, for the investigation and trial.
The coroner was unable to determine a cause of death. Police were unable to find evidence to implicate the child's death had occurred differently than Stutzman's claim that the child succumbed to a severe throat infection while the pair were traveling to Ohio. As a result, Stutzman was convicted of concealing a death and abandoning a body, serving 18 months for the crimes.
Many People Believe Stutzman Murdered His Pregnant Wife
Photo: fishermansdaughter / Flickr / CC BY 2.0Before his alleged mental breakdown and breaking with the Amish church and community in 1982, several people claimed Stutzman rebelled against the community where his father was a high-ranking bishop. He was known in Apple Creek, OH, as a moody liar before the questionable events that ended his pregnant wife's life in 1977.
Stutzman's story alleges that lightning struck a barn on his farm, starting a fire. He said his five-months pregnant wife, Ida, risked her life and unborn child to remove milking equipment from the blaze. She died of either smoke inhalation or a weak heart, depending on which sources are cited, and left behind her husband and 10-month-old son, Danny.
Many believe Stutzman started the fire because he didn't want another child.
Stutzman Was Convicted in 1987 Of Murdering A Roommate
Photo: Mystery Detektiv / YouTubeIn 1985, shortly before the death of his son, Stutzman was living with a man named Glen Pritchett in Texas. Pritchett's body was found in a ditch on May 12, 1985, with bullet holes in his head. Before police could begin properly investigating, Stutzman packed up and moved.
In 1985, citing a need to clear his name, Stutzman left his son Danny in the care of friends before looking for work in several states. Six months later, Stutzman picked up Danny and then abandoned his corpse on December 24, 1985. It was only after he was arrested for that crime that he was also charged and convicted of Pritchett's murder, serving 13 years of a 40 year sentence.
The Unsolved Murders Of Two Colorado Men Are Believed To Be Stutzman's Work
Two men were killed in the town of Durango, CO, in November and December of 1985 during Stutzman's alleged crime spree that claimed the life of his son and a man named Glen Pritchett.
David Tyler and Dennis Sleater were acquaintances who were known to be drug users. Sleater was shot in what looked to be a robbery at the convenience store where he worked. A month later, Tyler was killed and left in the bed of a truck outside his auto body business.
Police believed both men attended a party on November 8 of that year, and that Stutzman was in attendance as well. Stutzman was in town at the time and a witness puts him at the party, but no hard evidence ever linked him to the murders.
Stutzman Was Found Dead Of An Apparent Suicide In 2007
In 2007, a neighbor alerted authorities that they had not seen Stutzman in a few days, prompting a search of his residence. He was found dead in his apartment, located in Fort Worth, TX. Police did not believe anyone else was involved in the death and it was ultimately ruled a suicide. Stutzman's autopsy revealed that there was cocaine in his system at his time of death; he was also HIV-positive.
Stutzman had inflicted a deadly wound to his left forearm before passing away, leaving only his dog and lingering questions about his role in four unsolved murders.
He Told A Host Of Lies Regarding His Son's Death
Photo: Investigation Discovery / Daily MotionStutzman picked up his nine-year-old son, Danny, from friends on December 14, 1985. Danny had been living away from his father for six months, and Stutzman said the pair were going to drive from Wyoming to his birthplace of Apple Creek, OH, for Christmas with his family. When Stutzman arrived in the Amish community of Apple Creek, he didn't have Danny with him.
He told relatives Danny had decided to stay in Wyoming to ski. In July 1986, Stutzman sent a letter to his Amish relatives and told them Danny had died and was buried in Wyoming. The friends that had watched over Danny for six month in Stutzman's absence were told that the child was attending school in Ohio.
A 'Reader's Digest' Story Led To The Identification Of Stutzman's Dead Son
In 1987, Reader's Digest ran a story about Little Boy Blue, the unidentified nine-year-old boy found dead in a ditch in Chester, NE, on December 24, 1985. An Amish woman living in Ohio read the article about the child's death and thought it might be the young relative she hadn't seen in a couple of years.
Another woman in Wyoming thought the boy might be the one she had kept for six months in 1985 while her friend, Stutzman, looked for work. She decided to send a photo of Danny to Wyoming police, who used a palm print from a report card belonging to the child to positively identify him as Danny Stutzman.
Chester, NE, Mourned Danny As An Anonymous Child
Two years passed before Danny was identified. Prior to that discovery, the town of Chester, NE, embraced the anonymous nine-year-old boy. They named him Matthew and held a funeral for him. The unclaimed child had 400 mourners show for his funeral and a headstone purchased for him that read, "Little Abandoned Boy Found Near Chester, Neb., Dec. 24, 1985".
The grave plot and headstone were donated by Chester residents, and the mortuary donated its services. When the child's name was discovered in 1987, someone added it to the marker at no cost.
It Is Believed Stutzman Was A Gay Man Living In Secrecy
Gregg Olsen, author of the book Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets opened his book by claiming that after the death and abandonment of Stutzman's son, the man was on his way to meet up with a stranger he could "suck off, lie to, use for a place to crash and a meal."
Stutzman was suspected of having an intimate relationship with his former roommate, Glen Pritchett, whom he killed in 1985. Two men Stutzman is suspected to have killed in Oklahoma in 1985 were also gay men.
Stutzman Openly Defied The Amish Traditions And Rules After His Wife's Death
Photo: Loren Kerns / Flickr / CC BY 2.0After an alleged lightning strike set his barn ablaze in 1977, Stutzman claimed his then-pregnant wife, Ida, died after attempting to save milking equipment from the building. Some sources cite smoke inhalation as the cause of death, while others point to heart failure. At any rate, it was at this time Stutzman began to openly rebel against his Amish religion and community.
Stutzman supposedly suffered a breakdown before installing electricity in his house, abandoning farming, and shaving his beard - all of which are against Amish tradition. Stutzman eventually took his son, Danny, and left the Amish community for Colorado in 1982.
Author Gregg Olsen Is Still Trying To Link Stutzman To The Murders
Author Gregg Olsen confessed to The Daily Record in 2007 that he was "obsessed" with the subject of his 1990 book Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets. When Stutzman died in 2007, the author was asked for comment about the man suspected in the death of five people and only convicted for the murder of one.
Olsen admitted he was still working on connecting Stutzman to the death of his wife, his son, and two men in Oklahoma - even after the suspected killer's death.
Stutzman Moved Frequently Throughout His Life
Photo: Investigation Discovery / Daily MotionAfter growing up in Apple Creek, OH, Stutzman moved himself and his son, Danny, to Ignacio, CO in 1982. In 1984, the pair moved to Austin, TX, where they met and lived with Glen Pritchett - until Stutzman killed him in May of 1985.
Stutzman took Danny to Lyman, WY, for six months before traveling back to Ohio, Colorado, and then New Mexico - supposedly in search of work. Stutzman picked Danny up in December 1985, and the two were supposed to travel to Ohio for a visit - but he left his son's body in Nebraska on the way.
Stutzman was also linked to Oklahoma and the death of two men there in 1985 before being found dead in a Fort Worth, TX, apartment in 2007.
