clothing. it was the minister. the man of the cloth, inspiring from the pulpit. burying the faithful periods he officiated over my son. counseling over the troubled. he was so good at understanding how to comfort other people. what if the minister is expected to be not a man of god at all? the minister role? the minister role. he was hiding behind that hat. a stranger in robes, caring got the devils business. i believe he prayed on vulnerable people. laying on hands where he said it. he would right into their bedroom. just who was he? reverend shermer was a small- town methodist preacher in eastern pennsylvania. he was our friend, our confident. just an all-around, good guy. he had seen the fresh young pastor going to an accomplished pastor. all the things he held my friends with the years. he watched his friend raise his family. they sang together many, many times. it seemed like the all-american couple. my mom and dad were people who
but investigators believed that jules had died after tumbling down a flight of basement stairs. i didn t know what had n happened down there. i needed to find out whether jules death was suspicious in any way. kathy knew the story better than most. a good friend of jules, she was in the pews for most of the tenure in lebanon, pennsylvania. how did the congregation receive him? great. they loved him. he was reinstated over and over again. and a.b. and jules daughters remember their parents being devoted not only to the church but to each other. did you see little affection, holding hands, caressing? yes, ledefinitely. and their dad adored them. julie and amy remember how he was the one who got them off to
what a dramatic statement that was? yeah. definitely the biggest statement. her father was on the verge of filing a formal complaint with the church that could get a.b. schirmer fire. he didn t believe a suicide note, but there was one thing he wanted people to know. he put all the cell phone records, the contact for the bishop of the church, and his under my bed. so kind of his case he was building against the pastor? yeah. rose they do need to see inside his briefcase to understand what had happened. she said cindy shamelessly told her about the love triangle. i watched her face. i felt like she was the woman that was awakened in some way that had not ever felt that before in my life.
rose says he didn t even try to defend himself. he resigned from the church. he was a broken man when they left her office. and he was done with the church? he had to get it within a certain amount of time. he wasn t supposed to talk to anybody. not make contact with them or anything. he was just supposed to leave, and that was it. there was one churchgoer, he couldn t stay away from. samantha s mother. months after, the onetime river and was dropping by her house for dinner. you didn t like him? i felt as if my family was invaded. before samantha knew it, dinners are turning into overnight stays. he started bringing overnight bags.
car accident? yeah. odd choice, but nate reminded himself that his mother loved nature. they jogged together at parks. a.b. said she always enjoyed seeing the deer. that s help them take care of the funeral arrangements. her daughter, samantha, who was 16 at the time, remembers it well. the morning of the service, i went over early and was helping her with, you know, last minute details. the church was packed as people rode to the late becky. nothing was heard from the pastor a.b. schirmer. he sat in the pews and listened. he presided over so many funerals, but told friends that this was one he couldn t bear to speak at. in the receiving line, the preacher stood next to his stepson nate. one of them was cindy.