The Red Slipper Murder Case

Like most kids, I went on plenty of field trips. One that always stood out to me was a visit to the Wyandotte County Historical Society Museum. It’s a charming old Second Empire-style house, filled with artifacts that tell the story of the community’s history spanning hundreds of years. As a child, I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz, so when I saw a display case holding a pair of red ballet slippers, I was instantly drawn to it. Little did I know, these beautiful slippers hid a dark, blood-stained history, as they are directly tied to a chilling murder case.

It all began in 1952 when Cynthia Peale, a young and promising student at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, met fellow freshman Roy Schneidel Jr. The two started dating. Her friends later claimed that Roy was sometimes verbally, and possibly physically, abusive toward Cynthia, and her parents disapproved of the relationship. Despite this, Cynthia withdrew from college after her first year and returned to White Plains, New York. However, she stayed in touch with Roy, even taking a job in his hometown of Cleveland to secretly meet with him.

In September of 1953, Roy arranged for Cynthia to stay in a small shack near the university’s football field. He instructed her to stay out of sight and keep her whereabouts a secret. After a few days of being cooped up inside, Cynthia grew restless and decided to take a walk.

During her walk, she bumped into someone from school and had a brief conversation. Later that evening, she told Roy about the encounter, which sent him into a violent rage. In a blind fury, he punched and strangled her until she went limp. When he couldn’t revive her, Roy used a metal pipe to repeatedly bash her face in until she was unrecognizable.

Roy drove her body north until he found a patch of uncut grass in Wyandotte County, where he dumped her in a ditch, assuming no one would find her for a long time. However, the very next day, the area was scheduled to be mowed.

Her body, dressed only in a flannel nightgown and the now-infamous red slippers, was discovered by a county worker. The body was taken to a local funeral home, and with no recent missing persons reports that matched, the team worked to repair her face just enough to take photographs. These photos were then published in the local newspaper, but despite the efforts, no solid leads came in.

During her autopsy, it was tragically revealed that Cynthia had been three to four months pregnant at the time of her murder. With no luck identifying her and no labels on the nightgown, all that remained were the red slippers. At the time, there were doubts about whether the young sheriff, Dean McAllister, could solve the case. Determined to prove them wrong, he set out to uncover her identity and find the killer.

Upon examining the slippers, McAllister discovered a cobbler's mark, which led him to a shoemaking shop in Columbus, Ohio. The shoemakers had only produced 250 pairs of that particular style, and the shoes had been shipped to the White Plains, New York area.

McAllister traveled to New York, where local law enforcement helped him connect with a mother who had recently reported her daughter missing after not hearing from her for a couple of weeks. That mother turned out to be Cynthia’s, and during further conversation, she revealed that Cynthia had attended school in Ohio.

When the sheriff returned to Ohio and spoke with Cynthia's friends on campus, they were able to identify Roy as the main suspect. Roy was taken in for questioning and interrogated for three days.

Roy eventually broke down and confessed to the murder. To avoid the death penalty, he agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and wrote a detailed account of the events. He also led authorities to where he had discarded the lead pipe in the Olentangy River, which was later recovered. Roy was sent to a state correctional facility, where he reportedly behaved as a model prisoner. After serving just 10 years, he was paroled for his good conduct.

Allegedly, Roy returned to Cleveland, where he worked as a columnist under a pseudonym for a local newspaper. He faded from the public eye until 2013, marking the 60th anniversary of the case, when reporters began reaching out to him at his home in Youngstown, Ohio. Weeks later, he mysteriously disappeared. It’s believed that he moved to Florida, remarried, and if he is still alive, he would now be in his late 80s."

While Roy was pleading guilty and serving his sentence, Cynthia's body was returned to New York for her funeral and burial, next to her parents. It is said that her ghost has been seen near the shack in Delaware, and she’s often felt at the museum, seemingly searching for her beloved slippers.

The Red Slipper Murder is just one of many tragic cases that have faded from memory over time. That's why it’s so important to display stories like these—to serve as a reminder of the victim, Cynthia, and the haunting events that took place in our community years ago.