Freeland man Donald Stafford plans to observe Father’s Day this
year with a somber tribute to the only father he ever knew.

Stafford is a stepson of Francis C. Reed, the man police said
was murdered June 19, 1976. Reed’s body was placed in a pick-up
truck and pushed into Willow Bay, where it was discovered by
fishermen on July 9, reports indicate. Stafford was 9.

Stafford plans to go to the boat launch at Willow Bay near
Warren for the first time in his life Sunday morning, he told The
Era Friday. He initially wanted to place a temporary memorial at
the site, but was told by U.S. Forestry officials it would be
removed. A more costly, permanent memorial didn’t seem practical,
so Stafford said he may put something at Reed’s grave site
instead.

“I have a lot of memories of him,” Stafford said of his late
stepfather, even though he was only 9 years old wheb Reed died. “He
was always very kind. For as long as I can remember, I thought he
was my (biological) father. I never knew otherwise. He treated me
like his own.”

Stafford said he recalls begging his stepfather to take him
along on the fishing trip Reed planned for the day police said he
was killed. Reed, however, refused to let his stepson come with him
that time, Stafford said.

“I remember being really upset at the time,” he said. “You know,
you’re 9 years old, and your dad won’t take you fishing with him.
That’s a big deal when you’re a kid.”

To this day, Stafford said, he wonders if his stepfather was
protecting him in some way, or whether it was just a fortunate
coincidence that young Stafford didn’t accompany Reed for that
particular fishing trip.

But that decision changed Stafford forever.

“I think I would be a different person,” Stafford said, meaning
if Reed had lived. “I have regrets,” he said, adding he knew it was
neither his nor Reed’s fault that the day’s events played out as
they did.

“There are so many things I don’t know,” Stafford said,
explaining he is “not mechanically inclined.” One thing he
remembers about his stepfather is that he always worked on his own
vehicle and was handy around the house and garage.

“I’d be wiser about everyday things … things a guy should know,”
he said. “If I would’ve had someone to show me the ropes.”

Now grown and with a family of his own, Stafford said when he
hears his peers talking about taking care of their elderly parents
and how much of a burden it can be, he thinks, “I wish I had
someone to take care of. At least I would have him.”

Stafford said he got the idea to go to the scene of his
stepfather’s murder about six months ago. While Reed’s death is
something he thinks about everyday, he said, for whatever reason,
he’s been thinking about it more lately, questioning why and how it
happened.

He said Sunday’s trip to the boat launch will be a tribute to
Reed in his mind. While he said the visit has the potential to be
both “horrific” and “traumatic,” he feels it is something he must
do.

Stafford said he has tried to track down information about the
murder itself, talking with lawyers, newspaper personnel, police
officers and others who might remember. He said he feels that
because of his age at the time, he was likely sheltered from many
of the facts.

An Era article from December of 1984 reports two of the three
men charged in Reed’s death -ðWilliam Schattenberg, Charles Whelan
and Harry S. Anderson -ðserving prison terms for their parts in the
murder were both seeking sentence reductions.

Schattenberg, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in
connection with Reed’s murder, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in
state prison in 1977, and was eligible for parole in 1987.

Whelan was found guilty by jury trial and sentenced to 10 to 20
years in state prison, eligible for parole the same year. They both
sought to reduce their sentences in 1984. It was unclear Friday
night what became of their efforts, although an individual who was
a reporter for a local newspaper at the time of the murder said
they both served 10 years of their sentences.

Anderson, a Bradford man, was acquitted by a jury in Lawrence
County, where the trial was moved.

Stafford said he understood Schattenberg fled his parole, but
was later located somewhere in Texas. He knew little else about the
criminal case, he said.

A father of three sons himself, Stafford said his plans for this
Father’s Day, aside from the trip to the boat launch, include
spending time with his two youngest sons, his wife and his family
and friends here in the McKean/Elk counties area.

Given the chance to speak to his stepfather if it were possible
this Father’s Day, Stafford said in a broken voice he would tell
Reed “that I’ve missed him, that he meant a lot to me, and I just
wish he was here.”