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Complaint: Strong DNA evidence links suspect to scene of 1983 Linn County murder
Suspect told brother he hurt himself trapping, knew victim and went to scene to clean up, complaint states
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The man facing a first-degree murder charge in connection with the 1983 death of Ronald Novak north of Center Point, placed himself at the home where the death occurred during a call with his brother, a criminal complaint released Saturday shows.
Michael S. Schappert, 64, of Fairview, Ore., made an initial appearance in Linn County District Court Saturday on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the 1983 death of 24-year-old Ronald Lee Novak. He was ordered to remain in jail in lieu of a $1 million cash-only bail.
Schappert waived extradition in an Oregon courtroom less than 24 hours earlier, and authorities swiftly brought him to Iowa.
The criminal complaint charging Schappert lays out an unusually detailed account of the lengths investigators took during their investigation and the methodical efforts they took to link Schappert through DNA to the scene.
The complaint details a bloody crime scene and two hammers, a piece of firewood and a golf club with a bent head that had traces of hair and blood on them near Novak’s body. There was blood splatter on walls and tracks into multiple rooms in the home.
Those pieces of evidence and advances in DNA technology would eventually be used to zero in on Schappert.
In 2011, investigators sent evidence to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Crime Lab for DNA testing. The DCI lab was able to develop a partial male DNA profile from each of the socks Novak was wearing when he was found. The evidence showed that DNA belonging to a male other than Novak was present.
In 2019, sheriff’s office investigators began working with DNA Labs International and Parabon Nanolabs and a snapshot of a suspect was developed, though no further identification was done at that time, the complaint states.
A year later, Parabon was able to identify possible relatives of the DNA contributor through genetic genealogy and investigators were able to obtain samples that tracked the genealogy to three brothers.
Detectives were able to obtain covert DNA samples from each of Schappert’s brothers and through this process two of Schappert’s brothers were eliminated, the criminal complaint states.
In August of 2022, detectives worked with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon to obtain a covert DNA sample from Schappert, and the subsequent testing revealed that Schappert could not be eliminated as a source of the unknown suspect’s DNA, the complaint states.
In December 2023, a known DNA sample was collected and Schappert was interviewed by investigators, the complaint states. He placed himself in Iowa in late 1983, saying he hitchhiked there from Oregon before Christmas 1983. He did not provide an explanation why his DNA was at the crime scene.
In a second interview, he recalled being at Novak’s residence, the complaint states, but did not explain why he was there.
Schappert’s brother placed a phone call to him on Dec. 21, 2023, the complaint states. Schappert said he was at Novak’s residence with another person in the area while trapping, got injured, knew Novak and went there to clean up, the criminal complaint states. The explanation was not consistent with Novak’s known behavior at that time of not letting people into his house, the complaint states.
DNA evidence on Novak’s sock revealed it was 650 trillion times more probable that the sample originated from Schappert and Novak than from Novak and an unknown person. From there, investigators obtained a DNA profile from the handle grip of a claw hammer found at the scene that contained the DNA of three people and provided very strong support that Schappert’s DNA was a contributor to the profile.
“The investigation into the homicide of Ronald Novak has indicated the defendant was present at Novak’s residence when he was killed and that his DNA was found on blood on Novak’s socks and on his clothing as well as touch DNA on the claw hammer found next to his body,” the complaint states.
Ron Novak’s body was found beaten, shot, and frozen in an unheated storeroom of his rural Walker home on Christmas Eve, 1983. He was face down in an unheated room of his house. His hands were tied behind his back, and he appeared to have been beaten in the head and body with hammers and a golf club, which were found in the room. He also had been shot once in the chest.
An autopsy performed at the time identified the cause of death as a combination between those injuries and hypothermia and shock because of the cold temperature in the room.
The case still is open, as Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said this week investigators believe there was at least one other person involved in Novak’s murder. Circumstances at the scene indicate Novak was killed in a burglary and/or robbery.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Schappert would face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Download: SchappertCriminalComplaint.pdf
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