Hello CrimeCon Insiders!

As you have figured out, I took a small group to the location of the infamous Devil Tree. If you haven’t watched the video yet, I’ll include it below. The purpose of this trip was to not only explore a site of another Schaeffer crime but to also see if there was anything to the urban legend that has been passed down over the decades.

The long standing or original legend goes a bit like this:

Gerard took two women and tied them up to the tree and sadistically raped and tortured them for days before killing them. It was not until years after the death of Collette Goodenough and Barbara Wilcox that their bodies were found buried under the tree. This much of the legend is true but here is where it starts to go a little off track.

In the 80’s, “satanic panic” started to grip the United States and Port St. Lucie was not without its own hysteria. Whether it was legitimate, for fun or to create a little drama individuals and a few small groups started to hold rituals at the tree. Talks of devil worship and animal sacrifices started to surface which obviously made the community uncomfortable.

In 2000, the city of Port St. Lucie decided to build a park in this area (true) and being tired of all of the shenanigans and fear around the “Devil Tree” they sent two workers to cut the tree down. As the workers neared the tree and attempted to start the chainsaws, they malfunctioned. The men were committed to getting this project done so they decided to use a traditional saw to cut the tree down only to have the teeth of the saw break off. Frustrated the men headed out to pick up another chainsaw. The story says they were killed in a fatal auto accident leaving the park. It was found that one of the men had a piece of the tree with him in the car.

Now mind you, as is the case with most urban legends they start out with a grain of truth and then nothing else can be confirmed. The same goes here. Upon inspecting the tree I could find no scarring that would indicate that anyone has ever attempted to cut this tree down. I looked up several feet from the ground and all around the tree and could find no evidence of the attempted cutting.

A second story says that a woman went to the park to get a piece of the tree which she had planned to put into a friend’s car. I am not so sure this was a true friend as the story says to NEVER cut a piece of the tree and attempt to take it with you, especially in a vehicle. This is very bad luck. Well this woman supposedly got a piece and left the park. While on her way home she was in a major car accident. I can confirm that upon inspecting the tree, it is obvious that people have carved pieces out of it. There are a multitude of scars, cuts and chunks noticeable.

Now, I love a good story and especially at Halloween these are the types of things that make the season fun but when they become stories that people believe or fear well, it is time to investigate. So I will happily place the Devil Tree into the Urban Legend category as I have been unable to find any information about the tree and its inability to be cut down. No mention of city workers being killed on their way to or from a job. No workers killed that I can find period.

As you saw in the video, the people that I ran into while at the Devil Tree had a couple of different versions about the tree’s history. Funny how stories change with time and no one looks for the truth. I guess urban legends are more fun and interesting than the horror of the truth.

The Devil Tree:

Murder and Mysteries with Massnick:

Dr. Kimberlie Massnick, aka M3, along with P3 (Producer Pierre Pacheco), will launch Season 1 of the true crime podcast Murder and Mysteries with Massnick on Monday, November 5th, 2018. Season 1 delves deeper into the case of Gerard John Schaefer which was the subject of Dr. Massnick's sensory experience at CrimeCon 2018 in Nashville. M3 and P3 will visit locations around Florida's Treasure Coast which were pivotal in the crimes committed by Schaefer. Massnick and Pacheco interview some of those who had major roles in the cases as well as members of the community who recount their own thoughts and experiences of the time. Sprinkle in a few sassy friends, over-achieving students and just plain interesting people and Season 1 should provide for some interesting listening.

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