THE DARK SIDE OF IOWA
Unsolved
Brian Lee Schappert
courtesy Iowa Cold Cases
Offender: Unsolved
Age: 22 years old
Case #: 92-08179
County: Linn
City: Cedar Rapids
Date of Crime: September 8, 1989
Age: 22 years old
Case #: 92-08179
County: Linn
City: Cedar Rapids
Date of Crime: September 8, 1989
Brian Lee Schappert, a 22-year-old Coe College senior, was killed in the early morning hours on Friday, September 8, 1989, while working the midnight shift alone at a Cedar Rapids Kum & Go convenience store. Brian, who'd just begun his senior year at Coe that same week, was slain during a robbery at the 2743 Mount Vernon Road SE store. His throat was slashed and he also sustained numerous stab wounds to his back.
According to a Cedar Rapids Gazette article, ab driver Thomas Cress of Center Point discovered Brian's body around 3:15 AM after stopping to buy gas. Later that day, police released a sketch of a white male in his 20s, about 6 feet tall and 170 pounds with shoulder-length, dark brown hair. Witnesses told police they saw the man in the area shortly before Brian's body was found. Police also had one crucial lead: a witness placed a van at the store near the time the murder occurred. Police checked on more than 400 such vans registered in the Cedar Rapids area, but admitted the van driver could simply have been making a delivery at the store.
Following Brian's murder, Marion city leaders insisted surveillance cameras be installed in convenience stores and by mid-1990, every store had at least one. Not long afterward, Cedar Rapids also had surveillance cameras in the city's all-night businesses.
Out of the blue, an anonymous woman phoned Brian's parents on September 23, 1993, and told them about a van she felt might have been involved in their son's murder. The caller spoke at length with Laura, telling her why she thought the van might be the one witnesses had seen and why its owner might have been the murderer. The caller said she knew who owned the van and said the individual frequented the convenience store. Still, the caller would not provide her name or the van owner's name, but she promised to call police the next day. The call still hadn't arrived by the next evening. She did, however, call the following week and told detectives where police could find the van, which she said hadn't been driven since Brian's murder.
Brian's father believes his son was acquainted with his killer. Two weeks before the murder, Brian had been promoted to assistant manager and had been given the combination to the store's safe. Brian's body was found near the convenience store's open, emptied safe.
If you have any information about Brian's unsolved murder, please call the Cold Case Unit at 319.286.5919. Linn County Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous tips and rewards for information may be available. Crime Stoppers can be reached at 319.272.7463.
Source: Iowa Cold Cases