The night that haunted a Wisconsin town forever… and the little girl whose trick-or-treat next door ended in horror

The ‘Halloween Killer’ continues to haunt a Wisconsin town more than 50 years after the gruesome slaying of a nine-year-old girl.

Lisa Ann French was out trick-or-treating by herself in Fond du Lac on Halloween night in 1973 when she rang the doorbell of her neighbor, Gerald Turner.

It was the last thing she would do.

French was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered. Her body was placed in a garbage bag and dumped in a field.

After the horrific murder, Halloween changed forever for Fond du Lac. The holiday is now celebrated only during daylight hours, and only on the Saturday before Halloween. This year, it is scheduled on October 25 from 3.30 pm to 5.30 pm.

Local radio station KFIZ hosts an annual Halloween party on the air, giving out prizes starting at 5.30 pm to ensure kids are home before dark.

Tiffany Brault, president of the Fond du Lac city council and a mother of three young children, said it happened before she was born, but her mother lived through it.

‘It’s a story that has really just always haunted our community. ‘I grew up here and I remember hearing about it often, usually around Halloween,’ Brault told Daily Mail.

Nowadays, she said, their community doesn’t often see major crimes like French’s murder, but French’s abduction and murder is still brought up today by residents who remember when it happened.’

‘As part of the response to that tragedy, we have held trick-or-treat during daylight hours on the weekend before Halloween ever since.’

Fond du Lac Police Captain Melvin Heller told WISN in 2013 from his nursing home the impact of French’s murder had on the community.

‘It was terrible what he did to that little girl. It isn’t the same here in Fond du Lac. Everybody who lives here always knows about Lisa French.’

Lisa Ann French, 9, was sexually assaulted and murdered on Halloween October. 31, 1973

Gerald Turner brutally murdered French and dumped her body in a farm field

Fond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County with a population of approximately 45,000 according to a 2024 census.

Nine months after the heinous crime, Turner, who was 25 at the time, confessed and declared his innocence. In February 1975, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 38 years and six months in prison.

But in 1992, he was discharged for good behavior. The decision shook the community.

In 2003, after violating his parole, he was sent back to prison to serve another 15 years and 6 months, as per Treasure Coast Newspapers.

In 2018, after he completed his prison sentence, prosecutors convinced a judge that he was still dangerous and was sent to a supervised living facility.

French’s mother, MaryAnn Gerhing, and sister made sure their family member’s killer would not be released and started a petition to keep him locked up. The petition, created in 2017, garnered more than 35,000 signatures at the time.

In 2022, a judge rejected Turner’s defense motion, and again this past April.

The 75-year-old killer is currently at the San Ridge Treatment Center in Mauston, Wisconsin, as part of the Chapter 980 sexual predator statute.

He is still fighting for his release.

The Wisconsin law that was created in 1994 for those criminals who have committed a sexually violent offense, who reach the end of their sentences, and are not released since they are deemed dangerous to others.

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin has a population of 45,000 and is located in Fond du Lac county

At one time, Turner revealed in a chilling statement that was published in Wisconsin Interest, a publication of the Badger Institute, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research, journalism, and advocacy organization, his feelings when he encountered the innocent young victim.

‘I could still see you standing in the doorway with that felt hat, beaming at having recognized me. Then I see the delight in your eyes turn to fear as I close the door behind you,’ he said.

After the kill, he wiped down French’s shoes and the zipper on her coat and put socks on his hands to avoid leaving fingerprints.

Fond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County located at the southern end of Lake Winnebago

French was dressed as a hobo and trick-or-treating by herself after her friend, who was supposed to accompany her, was grounded.

The streets were dark at 5.45 pm when French walked with a candy bag in her hand a half block to Turner’s home.

Turner, a machinist, lived there with his girlfriend and their infant child. French knew Turner and his family.

On the night she was killed, Turner said during his confession that he had attempted to resuscitate the young girl but stopped once his girlfriend arrived home.

His girlfriend had been at a Halloween party that French had planned to attend.

Before French’s murder, Turner had sexually molested a 15-year-old babysitter and was not accused of it until after her death.

Turn is led into court after his arrest in August 1974 for the heinous murder of Lisa Ann French

There is not a day that goes by that French’s mother, Maryann Gehring, does not miss her daughter

Lisa Ann French would be 52 years old. Yet one night enjoying an innocent childhood tradition changed her family and her town forever

French’s body was found in a remote area called Taycheedah two days after the vicious slaying. Heller told the news outlet that he remembers the farmer, who made the grisly discovery.

‘Seen a plastic bag over the fence. So we went out there after he opened it up and saw what was in the bag. It was a little girl, a little nude girl,’ Heller recalled.

French’s mom told WBAY local news in 2022 that her daughter was ‘wise beyond her years,’ and a ‘kind person’.

‘When she was nine years old, she came home from school one day and she said there’s a little girl in school who doesn’t have nice clothes and she was wondering if she could go through some of the clothes she didn’t wear and she should take them to school with her and she did,’ Gehring said.

‘She took a big bag of clothes to school for this little girl.”

French would have been 52 years old.

‘It still doesn’t get easier because it’s just like yesterday because it gets brought up every year,’ Gehring said.