Judge releases papers related to Schieber case

A federal judge released several crucial transcripts and expert testimonies this week related to a civil lawsuit against the city over the 1998 murder of Wharton doctoral student Shannon Schieber. The opposing testimonies, which debate the exact time of death, may be critical to the outcome of the lawsuit filed against by Schieber's parents. The suit claims that two Philadelphia police officers failed to prevent the 23-year-old's death by not investigating sufficiently when they were called to the scene by a neighbor who heard screams. The Schieber family filed the suit in October of 1998 -- almost six months after their daughter was strangled to death in her home in Rittenhouse Square by the man known as the "Center City rapist." Police believe Schieber's murderer -- who remains at large -- entered her second-floor apartment at 23rd and Spruce streets through an unlocked balcony door. Schieber confronted her attacker, trying to fend him off. Her brother found her body the next afternoon when he went to check on her after she didn't show up to have lunch with him as planned. According to a 911 transcript, a little after 2 a.m. on May 7, 1998, Schieber's neighbor, Parmatma Greeley, called the Philadelphia Police Department claiming he heard screams coming from Schieber's apartment. "I just heard... her yell for help. I knocked on the door and I just heard... like a choking type sound," Greeley told the operator. Officers Steve Woods and Raymond Scherff were then sent to investigate a "woman screaming" at 251 S. 23rd Street. After spending five minutes at the scene with no probable cause to enter the apartment -- Greeley himself said that perhaps the sounds he had heard had come from outside -- the officers radioed back to headquarters that the report was unfounded. The officers say they knocked on the door, but took no further action after hearing no response. To determine whether Woods and Scherff left Schieber's apartment prematurely, both sides hired medical experts to recreate the last moments of Shannon's life. The experts differed in opinion. In his testimony, Michael Baden -- who was hired by Schieber's parents -- said Greeley probably heard Schieber being gagged, as indicated by marks around her mouth. He added that she could have been alive until about 3 a.m. -- more than half an hour after the police left the scene. Vincent DiMaio, who was hired by the city, testified that there was no evidence Schieber was gagged. He said that about 15 seconds after her killer started to choke her she would have been unconscious, and in approximately five minutes she would have been dead. Schieber's father Sylvester was pleased that the federal judge unsealed the documents. "Part of what we've been pursuing is our own discovery of what happened. We're encouraged by openness," he said. But Sylvester and his wife remain frustrated by both the lawsuit and the criminal investigation. "We filed the suit in October of 1998, and we still don't know when the trial is," he said, referring to numerous pretrial conferences and hearings scheduled until December 14. "It's a pity [the police] didn't arrest [Schieber's killer] the night he killed Shannon," he said. "We would like to see her killer incarcerated," he continued, adding that only when that happens will "women at Penn and in Philadelphia feel more secure." While the Philadelphia Police Department has still not apprehended anyone for the murder, the more than two-year-long investigation continues. The case has even been featured on America's Most Wanted. But the only break, so far, came last year when DNA tests linked Schieber's killer to at least five Center City rapes. All of the victims were in their early 20s and lived near each other. Lt. Joseph Maum of the PPD's Homicide Division said, "We're still getting tips, and we're tracking each one."