Caleb Fairley

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Caleb Fairley
Caleb Fairley.png
Born (1973-10-21) October 21, 1973 (age 50)
Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Criminal chargeTwo counts of murder, robbery
Two counts of aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse
PenaltyTwo life terms
Date apprehended
September 12, 1995

Caleb Fairley (born October 21, 1973) is an American murderer from Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania. In September 1995, Fairley murdered Lisa Marie Manderach, aged 29, and her 18-month-old daughter Devon, when the two visited Fairley's mother's Collegeville, Pennsylvania, children's clothing store in which he worked. [1]

Contents

Crime

On September 10, 1995, Fairley was working alone at Your Kidz & Mine, the Collegeville children's clothing store owned by his parents. Just before closing time, Lisa Marie Manderach (born September 30, 1965) and her daughter Devon (born February 4, 1994) entered the store. [2] When Fairley realized that they were the only customers present, he locked the doors to the store. He then attempted to sexually assault Lisa Manderach. When she resisted him, he became enraged and strangled her to death. He also strangled her infant daughter. [3] [4] After the murder, he sexually abused Manderach's corpse, then went to an Electric Hellfire Club concert that he had been planning to attend that night. [5]

Arrest and trial

Lisa Manderach had told her husband where she was going. When she did not return home, he contacted local police, who found her car parked outside the store. A search of Your Kidz & Mine revealed stacks of pornography stained with what appeared to be blood and long black hairs consistent with Manderach's. Similar hairs were found in the store's vacuum cleaner. Also present was a large damp spot on the carpet that was later determined to be saliva. The police also noted that peepholes had been drilled into the dressing rooms. Fairley was charged on September 12, 1995, with the murders of the mother and daughter. [6]

When police questioned Fairley, he was wearing a thick coat of makeup on his face. When detectives told him to wipe it off, his face was covered with scratch marks. When they were pointed out to Fairley by authorities, he said he received them in a mosh pit while attending an Electric Hellfire Club concert, at a local club called the Asylum. [7]

When hikers discovered Devon Manderach's strangled body dumped on a hill at Valley Forge National Park, Fairley was charged with two counts of murder and one count of abusing a corpse. [8] Fairley entered a plea bargain in which prosecutors would not seek the death penalty if he would show them the location of Lisa Manderach's body. Fairley upheld his end of the bargain. [2]

Fairley was tried in April 1996 and convicted on two counts of first-degree murder.

On July 24, 1996, Montgomery County Court judge William Carpenter handed down the maximum sentence, two consecutive life terms without chance of parole. [9] [10] Fairley is currently incarcerated at State Correctional Institution – Fayette in La Belle, Pennsylvania. [11]

Victims' legacy

Residents of Limerick, Pennsylvania, raised more than $250,000 over a two-year period to create the Manderach Memorial Playground in honor of Lisa and Devon Manderach; it was dedicated on September 12, 1998. [12] [13] [14]

Media

The Court TV crime documentary series Forensic Files reported on the evidence directly linking Fairley to the murders in the season 6, episode 30 "Shopping Spree", which aired December 10, 2001. [15] [16] [17]

The ID channel series Homicide City focused on this case in an episode aired on April 10, 2019.

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References

  1. ↑ Katherine Ramsland. "You have a Friend in Pennsylvania". crimelibrary.com. Courtroom Television Network. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2017. 18. New Chapter: You have a friend in Pennsylvania
  2. 1 2 Ramsland, Katherine (2007). "Vampire Killers: You have a Friend in Pennsylvania". Crime Library. CourtTV. Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  3. ↑ Rosenthal, Dave (9 October 2008). "William Lashner on guilt". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  4. ↑ Devlin, Frank (17 September 1995). "Murder Suspect Lived Life Of Ridicule, Fantasies". tribunedigital-mcall. The Morning Call. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. ↑ Rosenthal, Dave (9 October 2008). "William Lashner on guilt". baltimoresun.com. Baltimore Sun Media Group. Retrieved 31 October 2017. On the night of September 10, 1995, a fateful night in a number of lives, Caleb attended the concert of a gothic rock band and asked the keyboardist if he could help Caleb establish a more personal relationship with Satan.
  6. ↑ Westfeldt, Amy (12 September 1995). "Clerk Charged With Slaying Girl, Mother In Child's Clothing Store". www.apnewsarchive.com. Collegeville, PA: The Associated Press. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  7. ↑ PHUCAS, KEITH (23 October 2002). "The tales forensics tell". The Times Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Observer-Reporter - Clerk charged with killing mother, daughter". The Associated Press. Observer-Reporter. 13 September 1995. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Devlin, Frank (25 July 1996). "Fairley Gets Two Life Terms, No Parole Despite Montco Murderer's Admission Of Guilt, He's Taunted By Victims' Relatives". tribunedigital-mcall. The Morning Call. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  10. ↑ Hessler Jr., Carl (25 September 2012). "Convicted strangler Caleb Fairley seeks new trial in murder of mom, toddler". Norristown: The Delaware County Daily Times. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Judge William R. Carpenter, in June 1996, sentenced Fairley to two life prison sentences.
  11. ↑ Hessler Jr., Carl (25 September 2012). "Citing Supreme Court decision, Caleb Fairley seeks new trial in connection with 1996 murders". Montgomery News . Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "Limerick Community Park | Manderach Memorial Playground". Limerick, PA. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  13. ↑ Bieber, Dana (30 December 2009). "Manderach Memorial Playground overhaul draws criticism". Digital First Media. Montgomery News. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  14. ↑ D'Alessandro, Alyson (25 September 2012). "Manderachs' Killer Seeks New Trial". Limerick-Royersford-Spring City, PA Patch. Patch. Retrieved 31 October 2017. Manderach Memorial Playground, opened in 1998, commemorates the lives of the mother and daughter...
  15. ↑ "Forensic Files". TVGuide.com. CBS Interactive Inc. 10 December 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2017. After a woman and her daughter disappeared, forensic evidence pointed to the 23-year-old.
  16. ↑ "Forensic Files Episode List - Forensic Files". Forensic Files. Medstar Television. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  17. ↑ "Forensic Files: Shopping Spree". TV.com. CBS Interactive Inc. 10 December 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2017. The case of Caleb Fairley is detailed.
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