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American Monster: Abuse of Power is set to explore the disturbing case of Pastor Schirmer in its upcoming episode, Without a Prayer, airing Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 10 PM ET on Investigation Discovery.
Pastor Schirmer, once a respected United Methodist clergyman in Pennsylvania, is now serving a life sentence without parole for the 2008 murder of his second wife, Betty. He also has an additional 20-40 years for causing the death of his first wife, Jewel. Initially reported as accidents, a car crash and a staircase fall, both deaths were reclassified after years of forensic review and renewed investigations.
According to a CBS News report dated January 23, 2013, investigators determined that "forceful, hard blows to the back of the head" had caused Betty's fatal injuries, inconsistent with Schirmer's crash account.
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As per the Lebanon Daily News report dated December 16, 2015, Jewel's case was reopened after new evidence showed trauma inconsistent with a fall. The episode examines how Pastor Schirmer exploited his position to evade suspicion and how investigators ultimately uncovered the truth.
5 key details about Pastor Schirmer's crimes explored
1) Evidence showed the “deer-avoidance crash” could not explain Betty Schirmer’s injuries
State police reconstructed the 2008 Pocono Township collision and calculated the PT Cruiser's impact at under 25 mph, far below the force required to fracture Betty's skull. Investigators also documented bloodstains in the church parsonage garage, indicating she was struck elsewhere before being placed in the vehicle.
Prosecutors argued that Pastor Schirmer used the crash scene to disguise a crowbar assault, a claim the Monroe County jury accepted after 90 minutes of deliberation.
2) Joseph Musante’s suicide tipped authorities to a hidden affair and reopened the case
Three months after Betty's death, congregant Joseph Musante shot himself inside Pastor Schirmer's office. Troopers learned Musante had discovered the minister's relationship with Musante's wife, the church secretary.
The incident prompted detectives to re-examine Betty's fatal crash and, eventually, to review Jewel Schirmer's 1999 staircase fall, connecting the two incidents to the same suspect.
3) Jewel Schirmer’s 1999 death was reclassified from accident to homicide
Initial reports listed Jewel's fatal head trauma as the result of a stairway fall in the couple's Lebanon Township home. In 2011, biomechanical testing with crash-test dummies demonstrated that the injuries were inconsistent with an accidental tumble.
The Dauphin County coroner changed the manner of death to homicide in 2012, and Pastor Schirmer later entered a no-contest plea to third-degree murder, receiving 20-40 years to run after his life term.
4) Photographic documentation by an on-scene officer proved critical
Patrolman Stephen Gupko's night-of-crash photographs captured windshield angles, interior blood patterns, and minimal exterior damage. These images allowed later experts to conclude the crash could not have generated Betty's wounds, providing the backbone of the Commonwealth's circumstantial case.
5) Two juries reached swift guilty verdicts, and the pastor now serves consecutive sentences
Pastor Schirmer was convicted of first-degree murder and evidence tampering in Monroe County in January 2013, drawing an automatic life sentence without parole. He was subsequently sentenced in Lebanon County to an additional 20-40 years for Jewel's death.
During the second sentencing, Jewel's brother, John Behney, told the court, as reported by the Lebanon Daily News on December 16, 2015.
“I waited a long time for this day,...You destroyed so many lives.”
American Monster: Abuse of Power revisits these findings in the episode Without a Prayer, airing Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 10 PM ET on Investigation Discovery. The program outlines how Pastor Schirmer's role in the pulpit shielded him from early suspicion and details the investigative steps that exposed both homicides.
As the documentary underscores, the minister who once guided a congregation now serves the remainder of his life behind bars, a case study of how authority can be leveraged to conceal violent crimes.
