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Where is Pastor Schirmer now? Details explored ahead of American Monster: Abuse of Power on ID
American Monster: Abuse of Power returns to Investigation Discovery on Sunday, June 15, 2025, with the episode Without a Prayer, revisiting the long, complex case of Pastor Schirmer. Viewers will follow how the former United Methodist Church pastor’s cultivated persona unravelled once police re-examined two family tragedies initially deemed accidental.
Pastor Schirmer is currently an inmate within the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, serving life without the possibility of parole for the murder of his second wife, Betty Schirmer. A 20 to 40 years sentence for the death of his first wife, Jewel Schirmer, is also levied on him.
The terms run consecutively, as per the Lebanon Daily News report dated December 16, 2015. Renewed scrutiny of Betty’s death began after a 2010 suicide inside the pastor’s study, prompting investigators to revisit both fatalities.
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Pastor Schirmer: Where he is serving time today and how the double-homicide case unfolded
Pastor Schirmer is currently housed at the Greene State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania. He is serving a life term without parole for the 2008 murder of his second wife, Betty Schirmer, and a consecutive decades long sentence for the 1999 death of his first wife, Jewel Schirmer.
Both penalties stem from separate county proceedings: life without parole in Monroe County (2013) and the additional term in Lebanon County (2014). Court dockets show that his appeals on the first conviction remain active, but no hearing dates are set.
From false car crash to murder charge
On July 15, 2008, Pastor Schirmer told Pocono Township police that he had swerved his PT Cruiser to avoid a deer, causing a low-speed collision. Betty was found with severe head trauma, while the vehicle showed only minor body damage. Troopers initially logged the event as an accident.
The investigation shifted in 2010 after church member Joseph Musante died by suicide inside the pastor’s office; Musante had recently learned of Schirmer’s affair with his wife.
A deeper forensic review concluded the impact could not have produced Betty’s injuries, and blood evidence in the church parsonage garage suggested an assault occurred before the crash.
Prosecutors told the jury that Pastor Schirmer delivered the crowbar blows that injured Betty, placed her in the vehicle afterwards, and then orchestrated a minor crash to hide the assault. As per the ABC News report dated January 23, 2013, defense lawyer Brandon Reish stated:
“Accidents happen… Sometimes there are no explanations. Car accidents, falling down stairs, falling off ladders. People die in accidents every day.”
The jury deliberated for ninety minutes before convicting Pastor Schirmer of first-degree murder and evidence tampering.
The conviction reopened Jewel Schirmer’s 1999 death in North Lebanon Township. Medical reviewers re-examined autopsy data and staircase reconstructions; they determined her skull fractures were inconsistent with a fall. Schirmer entered a no-contest plea to third-degree murder in 2015.
During sentencing, Jewel’s brother John Behney told the court, as per the Lebanon Daily News report dated December 16, 2015:
“You destroyed so many lives... To this day, you just don't care.”
Current status ahead of American Monster: Abuse of Power
The episode Without a Prayer on American Monster: Abuse of Power airs Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 10 pm ET on Investigation Discovery. It revisits how Pastor Schirmer’s position in the pulpit insulated him from early scrutiny. It also traces the chain of events, from Betty’s staged crash to the forensic re-evaluation that linked him to Jewel’s death.
With Schirmer serving consecutive sentences in state custody, the broadcast offers an updated lens on a case in which two suspicious deaths and one tragic suicide were eventually tied to a single individual.
For viewers, it presents a factual timeline of how routine investigative steps, combined with renewed forensic analysis, dismantled the façade surrounding a respected clergyman.
Stay tuned for more updates.
