A group of eight ‘monsters’ banded together in a sick plot which saw a 13-year-old girl kidnapped, gangraped, and then killed – with her remains left floating in a river for nine months.
Maryann Measles was last seen on October 19, 1997, when she was abducted from a supermarket parking lot by five men and three women, who she had considered to be her friends.
The seventh grader had been waiting in the car while her mother carried out errands at the time.
Measles endured a campaign of torture in the moments before her death, which is laid bare in the latest episode of Investigation Discovery’s documentary series A Killer Among Friends.
And, after her kidnapping, it would be years before her loved ones got answers over what happened to her – and who was responsible for her murder. Here, FEMAIL unpacks the senseless violence.
After being snatched from her mother’s car, Measles was taken to River Road in New Milford, Connecticut where her known attackers – Keith Foster, Dorothy Hallas, Maggie Mae Bennett, Alan Walter, Jeffrey Boyette, Ronald Rajcok, Deaneric Dupas, and June Segar – began beating her.
The three women who participated in the murder were said to be angry that the teenager had sex with their boyfriends. Measles, however, had been a victim of statutory rape.
Although she broke away and ran for help, she was chased down by one of the perpetrators, Segar, and dragged back to her death.
Maryann Measles was last seen on October 19, 1997, when she was abducted from a supermarket parking lot by five men and three women
It was years before her friends and family members found out the truth about what happened
Recounting hearing how his late friend Measles died, a man named Scott said in the documentary: ‘Them beating on her and raping her and holding her under the water until the bubbles stopped, that’s probably the comment that haunts me the most.
‘Until the bubbles stopped.’
Another friend, Donna, added: ‘They wrapped her in blankets and chains and they threw her into the river. It breaks my heart that I wasn’t there to help her.’
Months before her life was taken, Measles began hanging out with the group of older friends who would later attack and kill her.
One evening, she confessed to her mother that she had been raped by some of the older men in the group, including Walter and Foster.
Measles’s mother took her to the police station to file statutory rape charges against the men, however only filed a report regarding Walter.
Although they planned to file a report against Foster, the group of friends hatched a plan to silence Measles, who had opened up about her ordeal and confined in her plan to June.
Nine months after her death, Measles’s body was found in Lake Lillinonah in Connecticut, but it was still years before police made any progress.
Measles was in the seventh grade when her friends kidnapped her and killed her
In the summer of 2001, four years later, cops offered a $50,000 reward for people to come forward with evidence to help solve the case.
Segar, one of the killers, was keen to get her hands on the money and in 2005, she reached out to police and led them to a crucial piece of evidence: an abandoned washing machine in the middle of the woods containing Measles’s clothes.
After linking herself to the crime, Segel admitted that there was eight people involved in the murder and that Walter orchestrated it.
Speaking in the documentary, Measles’s friend Ashleigh said: ‘I was just so sick to think that Mariann thought she was hanging out with friends, but they were planning on murdering her.’
‘It was mind-blowing seeing their pictures in cuffs in the news and all over the newspapers,’ Scott added.
‘It was like wow, I spent every day with those people. I was hanging out with a group of murderers and I didn’t even know it.
‘I will always harbour some guilt and blame because I literally introduced one of my best friends to her killers and that will never go away.’
Walter had sex with the teen’s corpse before they wrapped her in blanket, tied it with a chain and padlock and then pushed her into the lake.
Foster was the only perpetrator whose case went to trial where he was sentenced to 110 years in prison.
Keith Foster was sentenced to 110 years in prison for his role in Measles’s murder
Alan Walter plead guilty to felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault, and tampering with physical evidence
He was guilty on charges that included felony murder, first-degree sexual assault, three counts of first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, tampering with a witness, and tampering with physical evidence.
Additionally, Walter was handed a 60-year sentence for his involvement and was charged with felony murder.
For their part in the murder, Boyette was sentenced to 50 years, Dupas was sentenced to 47 years , Rajcok was sentenced to 36 years, Segar was sentenced to 30 years, and Hallas was sentenced to 25 years.
Bennett was sentenced to 19 years after she was charged with first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor, tampering with a witness, and tampering with evidence.
At the time of writing, only one out of the eight perpetrators has been released.
Bennett, who received the lightest sentence due to her plea deal, was freed in 2019 after 19 years.
She testified that at least three of the boys took turns raping Measles before dragging her to the water to drown her.
Reflecting on the murder, Measles’s younger sister commented in the documentary: ‘Two of the guys would have got 18 months for statutory rape, so instead they ended her life and ruined all of ours forever.
‘I’ve never raised my kids to believe there are not monsters… I’ve lived my life with eight monsters.’
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