Man charged for unsolved 1992 murder in Agawam

ROCKVILLE, Conn. — A man has been charged in connection to the unsolved murder of a middle school teacher's aide 25 years ago.

Gary E. Schara, 48, has been charged with murder, aggravated rape and kidnapping in the April 1992 death of Lisa Ziegert.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announced the development in a news conference Monday afternoon.

The 24-year-old Agawam woman was working her night job at a gift shop when she disappeared.

Her body was found four days later in a wooded area about four miles away. She had been raped and stabbed to death.

The scene was photographed and processed by police at the time, but the crime remained unsolved for 25 years.

"Mixed. It's very, very mixed," Ziegert's mother said of her reaction to the results. "It's always been about justice for Lisa. And that's why we are ecstatic about that: that she's going to get justice."

Agawam police, Massachusetts State Police, the state crime lab and the FBI conducted a joint investigation over those years.

"I believe strongly that Lisa is in a good place and that she is at peace. The thing that would be bothering her is our lack of peace," Ziegert's mother said. "It's been 25 years. We're getting older. Our kids are happy that we were here to see this day."

Last year, the district attorney released a computer-generated rendering of a suspect using new technology that analyzed DNA found at the crime scene to predict the suspect's physical characteristics.%

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The evidence taken from Lisa's body was used to develop a profile of her killer.

According to investigators, an informant 'close to Mr. Schara' provided them with handwritten confessions from Schara.

Schara waived extradition Monday morning after he was treated for medical issues at a Hartford, Conn. hospital stemming from an attempted suicide.

According to Gulluni, Schara has been a person of interest since 1993.

MORE: DA releases sketch of suspect in 1992 murder of teacher

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