Offender Record · OFF-2026-170
Gerald Stano (photo from the Radford University biography)
Gerald Eugene Stano
Also known as Paul Zeininger
Sex
Male
Race
White
Height
5'9"
Born
1951
Custody
Deceased
States
NY, FL, PA, NJ
Distinguishing featuresSlightly overweight, wore glasses and a moustache
Custody
Executed by electric chair on March 23, 1998 at Florida State Prison
This record documents arrests, charges and convictions reported by courts, law enforcement agencies and news organizations. Every statement is tied to a cited source with an archived copy. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt; a person charged is presumed innocent unless convicted. Where a record says named by police, no charge was ever filed: the record rests on a law enforcement agency's public identification of the deceased person, cited below. Not guilty by reason of insanity means the court found the act proven but the person not criminally responsible. Solve the Case does not allege that this person committed any offense beyond what the cited records state, and this record is not a suggestion that the person is connected to any unsolved case. How records are built, corrected and removed.
Summary of the record
Gerald Eugene Stano, born Paul Zeininger, was convicted of nine first-degree murders of young women in Florida and pleaded guilty to multiple additional homicides spanning 1969 to 1980 across Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He confessed to 41 murders total; law enforcement confirmed at least 23 victims. Stano was arrested on April 1, 1980, after stabbing a sex worker in Daytona Beach, Florida, and subsequently confessed to the murders of Mary Carol Maher, Toni Van Haddocks, and Nancy Heard, among many others. He was executed by electric chair on March 23, 1998, at Florida State Prison.
Documented Arrests, Charges and Convictions
Dispositions are shown exactly as the cited records report them. Pending charges are updated when a court acts; a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed from the site.
Offense date Dec 01, 1973, Daytona Beach, Florida
First-degree murder of Cathy Lee Scharf
Daytona Beach Police Department · Circuit Court, Brevard County, Florida · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death
Cathy Lee Scharf, 17, disappeared on December 1, 1973, from Port Orange, Florida. Stano picked her up while she was hitchhiking and offered to give her a ride to a skating rink. Her skeletal remains were discovered in January 1974 at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Stano confessed to choking her repeatedly and dumping her body in a ditch.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald; Stano v. State; Gerald Eugene Stano – Odyssey of Murder; Florida Executes Serial Killer
Offense date Jan 03, 1975, Daytona Beach, Florida
First-degree murder of Nancy Heard
Daytona Beach Police Department / Volusia County · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Docket 81-2508-CC · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Life imprisonment (three consecutive life sentences)
Nancy Heard's body was found three miles north of a Holiday Inn on the Daytona Beach boardwalk. She died from strangulation.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald; Gerald Eugene Stano Serial killer; Gerald Eugene Stano – Odyssey of Murder
Offense date Dec 1976, Daytona Beach, Florida
First-degree murder of Susan Bickrest
Volusia County Sheriff's Department · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death
Susan Bickrest, a 19-year-old barmaid, disappeared from her Daytona Beach home. Her body was discovered in a creek near Port Orange the next day. She died from strangulation and drowning.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald; Serial sex killer Gerald Eugene Stano; Gerald Eugene Stano – Odyssey of Murder
Offense date Nov 1977, Daytona Beach, Florida
First-degree murder of Mary Kathleen Muldoon
Volusia County Sheriff's Department · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death
Mary Kathleen Muldoon, 23, disappeared in November 1977 and was discovered in a ditch four days later in New Smyrna Beach. She died from a gunshot wound to the head and drowning.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald; Serial sex killer Gerald Eugene Stano; Gerald Eugene Stano – Odyssey of Murder
Offense date 1980, Daytona Beach, Florida
First-degree murder of an unidentified female (later identified as Pamela Kay Wittman)
Volusia County Sheriff's Department · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Life (as part of guilty pleas)
Victim remained unidentified for 43 years. Body discovered in 1980; forensic genealogy in 2024 identified the victim as Pamela Kay Wittman, age 25. Stano confessed to her murder.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald
Offense date Jan 27, 1980, Daytona Beach, Florida
First-degree murder of Mary Carol Maher
Daytona Beach Police Department / Volusia County · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Docket 80-1046-CC · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Life imprisonment (three consecutive life sentences)
Stano picked up Maher while she was hitchhiking. He stabbed her repeatedly in the chest and back after she rejected his sexual advances, reportedly because she bled on his car. Her body was found posed, lying on her back and covered with branches.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald; Gerald Eugene Stano Serial killer; Gerald Stano
Offense date Mar 25, 1980, Daytona Beach, Florida
Aggravated assault and battery of Donna Hensley
Daytona Beach Police Department · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Florida Aggravated Assault · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Confessed; charges subsumed into murder prosecutions
Donna Hensley, a sex worker, was stabbed 30 times by Stano at a motel on March 25, 1980, after rejecting his sexual advances. She escaped and reported the assault to Daytona Beach police on March 25, 1980. This assault led to Stano's arrest on April 1, 1980, after police ran a vehicle license plate and identified him. Hensley identified him from a photograph.
SourcesGerald Stano; Gerald Eugene Stano – Odyssey of Murder; Radford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald
Additional first-degree murder convictions (various victims)
Volusia County / Daytona Beach Police · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Sentence: Life and Death sentences
Stano confessed to 16 additional murders in 1982 while in Florida State Prison, including Ann Arceneaux (17), Janine Marie Ligotino (19), Barbara Bauer (17), Diana Lynn Valleck (18), Susan Basile (12), Linda Ann Hamilton (16), Bonnie Hughes (34), Emily Branch (21), Joan Gail Foster (18), Molly Newell (20), Emily Grieve (38), Sandra DuBose (34), Christine Goodson (17), Dorothy Williams (17), Ramona Neal (18), and Phoebe Winston (23). Not all resulted in formal charges.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald; Gerald Eugene Stano Serial killer
Offense date Apr 15, 1980, Daytona Beach, Florida
First-degree murder of Toni Van Haddocks
Daytona Beach Police Department / Volusia County · Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County, Florida · Docket 80-2489-CC · Florida First-Degree Murder · Arrested Apr 01, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Life imprisonment (three consecutive life sentences)
Toni Van Haddock's body was found near Daytona Beach on April 15, 1980. She had been stabbed multiple times in the head. Stano confessed to this murder on May 9, 1980.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald; Gerald Eugene Stano Serial killer; Gerald Eugene Stano – Odyssey of Murder
Pattern and Background
Victim counts and the pattern of the offenses as stated by courts, agencies and the cited reporting. Suspected counts are what officials have said publicly, not a finding of this site.
9
Victims convicted
41
Victims confessed
88
Victims suspected
Active years
1969–1980
Stated motive
Sexual, Power or control
Range from home
regional
Confessed
Yes
Cooperated with investigators
Yes
Education
high school
Marital history
Divorced
Children
0
Died
1998-03-23 · executed
Agencies
Law enforcement, prosecutors and corrections agencies the records show dealing with this person. An investigator working a case with a possible connection can start here.
Volusia County Jail · FL
Held Stano in Deland during investigation and prosecution
Volusia County Sheriff's Office · FL
Investigated multiple homicides; Detective David Hudson conducted interviews with Stano
Source: Florida Supreme Court, Murderpedia
Brevard County Circuit Court · FL
Tried Stano twice for Cathy Lee Scharf murder; Judge Gilbert Goshorn presided
Source: Florida Supreme Court
Seminole County Jail · FL
Held Stano during investigation and prosecution
State Attorney's Office, Eighteenth Judicial Circuit · FL
Prosecuted Brevard County murder case (Cathy Lee Scharf); jurisdiction includes Brevard and Seminole counties
Source: Florida Supreme Court
Office of the Attorney General of Florida · FL
Assisted with prosecution through Daytona Beach office; Robert A. Butterworth was Attorney General
Source: 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
Florida Supreme Court · FL
Agency case 70700, 92614
Heard appeals of Stano's convictions and death sentences
Volusia County Grand Jury · FL
Issued indictments for first-degree murder charges in Volusia County cases
Source: Murderpedia
Bradford County Sheriff's Office · FL
Investigated murders in Bradford County area related to Stano confessions
Florida Department of Corrections · FL
Housed Stano at Florida State Prison until execution; Richard L. Dugger was Secretary
Source: 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
Florida State Prison · FL
Death row facility where Stano was housed and executed on March 23, 1998
Source: Wikipedia, Florida Supreme Court
Daytona Beach Police Department · FL
Arrested Stano for aggravated battery of Donna Hensley on April 1, 1980; investigated multiple murder cases
Source: Wikipedia, Murderpedia, Crime Library
Brevard County Sheriff's Office · FL
Investigated Cathy Lee Scharf murder (Brevard County case)
State Attorney's Office, Seventh Judicial Circuit · FL
Prosecuted Volusia County murder cases; jurisdiction includes Volusia, Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns counties
Pasco County Sheriff's Office · FL
Investigated suspected Pasco County murders; reopened cases in 2005 with Saint Leo University students
Places Lived, Worked and Frequented
Each place and date range comes from a cited record. Dates marked approximate are as reported. Know a place that is missing? Use Edit record under the photo; a moderator reviews it before it appears.
FL
Ormond Beach, Florida
approx. 1973 – 1980 · Family relocated to Ormond Beach; lived with adoptive parents; worked as short-order cook, hospital employee, newspaper worker
Ormond Beach, Florida
approx. 1973 – 1980 · Short-order cook, hospital worker, newspaper worker; fired multiple times for theft and tardiness
Daytona Beach, Florida
approx. 1973 – 1980 · Active in Daytona Beach area committing murders; frequented areas with sex workers and hitchhikers
Volusia, Florida
approx. Apr 1980 – Sep 1980 · Held in local custody pending arraignment and trial preparation
Daytona Beach, Florida
Apr 01, 1980 – Apr 01, 1980 · Arrested by Daytona Beach Police Officer James W. Gadberry Jr. for aggravated assault and battery; confessed to murder of Mary Carol Maher
Starke, Florida
Sep 1981 – Mar 23, 1998 · Florida State Prison · Incarcerated following guilty pleas and convictions; placed on death row; executed by electric chair on March 23, 1998
NJ
New Jersey
approx. 1970 – 1972 · Moved to New Jersey; engaged in drinking and drug use; raped mentally disabled girl
New Jersey
1975 – 1975 · Arrested for forging a check from his employer
NY
Schenectady, New York
approx. 1951 – 1952 · Birth location; biological mother neglected him until adoption at 6 months
New York, New York
approx. 1953 – 1967 · Raised by adoptive parents Norma and Eugene Stano
New York, New York
approx. 1957 – 1967 · School attendance with behavioral problems; earned C's and D's; bullied; arrested for false fire alarm and throwing rocks from overpass at age 14
PA
Pennsylvania
approx. 1967 – 1970 · Family moved to Pennsylvania in 1967; attended computer trade school; worked various jobs; stole money from employers
Pennsylvania
approx. 1972 – 1973 · Short order cook and other unskilled labor
Known Vehicles
Vehicles and approximate dates of ownership or use, as reported in the cited records. A photo next to a vehicle is the vehicle itself as published.
1980 AMC Gremlin – Vehicle identified when Donna Hensley reported the assault; license plate ran by police led to Stano's identification
approx. 1980 – 1980
Used to pick up victims; license plate traced by Detective Gadberry
Timeline
Sep 12, 1951
Gerald Eugene Stano born as Paul Zeininger in Schenectady, New York.
1952
Deemed unadoptable by county doctors after severe neglect by birth mother.
1953
Adopted by Norma and Eugene Stano; name legally changed to Gerald Eugene Stano.
1964
At age 11-12, Stano killed neighbor's chicks, had trouble in school relating to others, and bullied students.
Jun 01, 1965
Arrested for throwing stone from overpass onto moving vehicle.
Jun 01, 1966
Arrested for pulling false fire alarm.
1967
Family moved to Pennsylvania; Stano started stealing money and skipping school.
Jun 01, 1972
Graduated high school at age 21; attended computer trade school.
Jun 21, 1973
Married Teresa Esposito, age 22.
Dec 01, 1973
Killed 17-year-old Cathy Lee Scharf, a hitchhiker from Port Orange, Florida; dumped her body.
Jan 19, 1974
Skeletal remains of Cathy Lee Scharf discovered in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Jan 03, 1975
Killed Nancy Heard; body found three miles north of Holiday Inn, Daytona Beach.
Jun 01, 1975
Arrested for forging check from employer.
Dec 1975
Killed Susan Bickrest; body found in creek near Port Orange.
Jun 01, 1976
Teresa Esposito divorced Stano after he abused her.
Nov 01, 1977
Killed Mary Kathleen Muldoon; body discovered in ditch, New Smyrna Beach.
Jan 27, 1980
Killed Mary Carol Maher, 20, in Daytona Beach; stabbed repeatedly and posed body with branches.
Feb 17, 1980
Body of Mary Carol Maher discovered by college students behind Daytona Beach Airport.
Mar 25, 1980
Attacked sex worker Donna Hensley with knife, stabbing her 30 times at motel; she escaped and reported to Daytona Beach police.
Apr 01, 1980
Gerald Stano arrested by Daytona Beach Police Officer James W. Gadberry Jr. for assault on Donna Hensley; immediately confessed to murder of Mary Carol Maher.
Apr 15, 1980
Body of Toni Van Haddock found near Daytona Beach; Stano confesses to her murder.
May 09, 1980
Stano confessed to murder of Toni Van Haddock during interrogation.
Mar 06, 1981
Stano made detailed confessions to detectives Crow and Manis.
Sep 02, 1981
Stano pleaded guilty to murders of Mary Carol Maher, Toni Van Haddocks, and Nancy Heard; sentenced to three consecutive life sentences by Judge S. James Foxman.
Jan 01, 1982
While incarcerated at Florida State Prison, Stano confessed to 16 additional murders.
Jun 13, 1983
Stano pleaded guilty to murders of Susan Bickrest and Mary Kathleen Muldoon; waived right to trial; sentenced to death by Judge S. James Foxman.
Sep 01, 1983
Stano convicted of first-degree murder of Cathy Lee Scharf; jury recommended death penalty; trial court imposed death sentence.
Jul 11, 1985
Florida Supreme Court affirmed Stano's conviction and death sentence in Scharf case.
May 22, 1986
First death warrant signed by Florida Governor.
Jul 02, 1986
Execution scheduled for 7:00 a.m.; Stano filed motion for postconviction relief on July 1, 1986.
Jun 04, 1987
Second death warrant signed.
Aug 22, 1987
Stano filed second appeal with Writ for Habeas Corpus claiming ineffective counsel; appeal denied; execution stayed.
Mar 01, 1997
Governor of Florida signed third death warrant; filed third appeal which was denied.
Mar 23, 1998
Gerald Eugene Stano executed by electric chair at Florida State Prison, Starke, Florida, at age 46.
Sources
Solve the Case is never the original source. Each item below is the public record a statement on this page rests on, with an archived copy where one exists.
News report · Murderpedia ·
Gerald Stano“Stano confessed to murdering Mary Carol Maher. When Stano was asked to describe Mary Carol Maher, he stood up to give her height and weight by gesture and described her as being tall and athletic. Stano's description of the victim was accurate.”
News report · Crime Library ·
Gerald Eugene Stano – Odyssey of Murder“Stano's scheduled execution was a result of his murder conviction in the December 1973 death of Cathy Lee Scharf, a 17-year-old hitchhiker from Port Orange, Florida. On June 8, 1983, Stano entered guilty pleas in the deaths of Susan Bickrest and Mary Muldoon. He waived his right to a hearing and Judge Foxman sentenced him to death.”
News report · Wikipedia ·
Gerald Stano“Gerald Eugene Stano (born Paul Zeininger; September 12, 1951 – March 23, 1998) was an American convicted serial killer. Stano murdered at least 23 young women and girls, confessed to 41 murders, and the police say the number of his victims may be closer to 88.”
Other · Radford University, Department of Psychology ·
Radford University serial killer biography: Stano, Gerald“09/02/1981: Sentenced to three life terms for the murders of Nancy Heard, Mary Carol Maher, Toni Van Haddocks. 06/13/1983: Sentenced to death after waiving the right to a trial and pleading guilty to the murders of Susan Bickrest and Mary Kathleen Muldoon. 03/23/1998: Executed by electric chair.”
Other · Radford University, Department of Psychology ·
Gerald Eugene Stano Serial killer“09-02-1981 Stano pleads guilty to the murders of Mary Carol Maher, Toni Van Haddocks, and Nancy Heard and is sentenced to life in prison. 06/13/1983: Pleads guilty to Bickrest and Muldoon deaths. Waived right to trial. The same judge as before sentenced him to death.”
News report · CBS News ·
Florida Executes Serial Killer“Gerald Stano, 46, was executed for killing a 17-year-old hitchhiker in December 1973. He confessed that he choked the girl repeatedly and dumped her body in a drainage ditch before cleaning up and going roller skating.”
Court record · Florida Supreme Court ·
Stano v. State“Gerald Stano was convicted in 1983 for the torturous murder of seventeen-year-old Cathy Lee Scharf. The trial court found four aggravators: prior conviction of a violent felony; the murder was committed during a kidnapping; the murder was heinous, atrocious, or cruel; and the murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated.”
Court record · 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ·
Gerald Eugene Stano v. Richard L. Dugger, Robert A. Butterworth“Stano's first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. In the second trial, Stano was found guilty of first degree murder of Cathy Scharf, and sentenced to death.”
News report · UPI ·
Serial sex killer Gerald Eugene Stano“Stano, 35, claims to have killed 41 women in a cross-country murder spree that stretched from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to Florida. Court records indicate several of Stano's victims were hitchhikers whom he picked up and later killed after they refused to have sex with him.”
Court record · Florida Supreme Court ·
Stano v. State“In 1981 Stano confessed to having killed a young woman in 1974, and a grand jury indicted him for first-degree murder. On retrial the jury convicted Stano as charged and recommended the death penalty, which the trial court imposed.”
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