Letter Leads Officers to Dead Woman

The body of a woman believed to be a 40-year-old school teacher was found in her Anaheim home Thursday after her husband allegedly wrote a letter to an Orange County newspaper columnist saying he had killed his wife and telling him where the body could be found, police said.

The body, found in a home on a quiet cul-de-sac in north Anaheim, was not immediately identified. But police said they believe the victim was Gail M. Schoenecker, a teacher at Price Elementary School.

Police said they suspect the woman’s husband, David L. Schoenecker, 48, had killed her, fled the state and then written the letter from a motel in Missoula, Mont. He was being sought Thursday.

Receives Letter

Bob Emmers, a columnist for the Orange County Register, received a letter Thursday afternoon postmarked from Missoula and written by Schoenecker, police said.

In the letter, Schoenecker not only claimed to have killed his wife, but went on to threaten others and to tell Emmers where her body could be found.

Police Lt. Marc Hedgpeth declined to release details of the letter, other than to say its tone was threatening and it made reference to a list. A list of 54 names was found in the Schoeneckers’ house, and Hedgpeth said it was apparently the same list in the letter.

Hedgpeth would not release names, but said the list apparently did not include any local public figures and that Emmers himself was not threatened.

Emmers could not be reached for comment. Tim Kelly, the Register’s managing editor, said “Emmers received a letter from somebody who claimed he killed his wife. We immediately notified Anaheim police. We’re cooperating fully with the Anaheim police.”

Times staff writers Lonn Johnston and Jim Carlton contributed to this story.