Caleb Fairley

Caleb Fairley (born October 21, 1973) is an American murderer from Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania.

In September 1995, Fairley murdered Lisa Marie Manderach, aged 29, and her 19-month-old daughter Devon, when the two visited the Collegeville, Pennsylvania children's clothing store in which he worked.

Crime

On September 10, 1995, Fairley was working alone at Your Kidz & Mine, the Collegeville children's clothing store owned by his parents. Just before closing time, Lisa Marie Manderach (born September 30, 1965) and her daughter Devon (born February 4, 1994) entered the store.^[1] When Fairley realized that they were the only customers present, he locked the doors to the store. He then attempted to sexually assault Manderach. When she resisted him, he became enraged and strangled her to death. He also strangled Manderach's infant daughter.^[2][3] After the murder, he sexually assaulted Manderach's corpse, then went to an Electric Hellfire Club concert that he had been planning to attend that night.

Arrest and trial

Lisa Manderach had told her husband where she was going. When she did not return home, he contacted local police, who found her car parked outside the store. A search of Your Kidz & Mine revealed stacks of pornography stained with what appeared to be blood and long black hairs consistent with Manderach's. Similar hairs were found in the store's vacuum cleaner. Also present was a large damp spot on the carpet that was later determined to be saliva. The police also noted that peepholes had been drilled into the dressing rooms.^[4]

When police questioned Fairley, he was wearing a thick coat of makeup on his face. When detectives told him to wipe it off, his face was covered with scratch marks. When they were pointed out to Fairley by authorities, he said he received them in a mosh pit while attending an Electric Hellfire Club concert, at a local club called the Asylum.^[5]

When hikers discovered Devon Manderach's strangled body dumped on a hill at Valley Forge National Park, Fairley was charged with two counts of murder and one count of abusing a corpse.^[6] Fairley entered a plea bargain in which prosecutors would not seek the death penalty if he would show them the location of Lisa Manderach's body.^[1]

Fairley was tried in April 1996 and convicted on two counts of first-degree murder.

On July 24, 1996, Montgomery County Court judge William Carpenter handed down the maximum sentence, two consecutive life terms without chance of parole.^[7] He is currently incarcerated at State Correctional Institution – Fayette in LaBelle, Pennsylvania.^[8]

Victims' Legacy

Residents of Limerick, Pennsylvania raised more than $250,000 over a two-year period to create the Manderach Memorial Playground in honor of Lisa and Devon Manderach; it was dedicated on September 12, 1998.^{[9] [10]}

References