Dead of Winter on ID: What happened to Robbie Schmidt?

ID's Dead of Winter (Image via Investigation Discovery)

The upcoming re-airing of Dead of Winter on Investigation Discovery is all set to look into the case of Robbie Schmidt's brutal murder, which shook the small city of Southington in Connecticut back in 1989. With over a decade of work on this case, it was ultimately solved in the early 2000s, making it one of the most prolific cases of the time.

Robbie Schmidt, a popular figure in the locality and a bartender, was found dead by the pastor of Bethel Church on the freezing and desolate morning of December 20, 1989. The cause of death was initially determined to be strangulation, but authorities also discovered blunt trauma wounds on his head, signifying struggle.

While the authorities struggled to connect the case to anything concrete, a lucky breakthrough and technological intervention finally managed to bring Robbie Schmidt to justice.

This case will be covered in detail on the upcoming episode of Dead of Winter on ID on December 8, 2023, at 11.00 PM EST.

Who was Robbie Schmidt, and what happened to him?

On the outside, Robbie Schmidt was just a regular native of Southington, Connecticut. He worked as a bartender and bouncer at a local restaurant and was well-known in the community. Almost everyone described him as an amicable figure.

However, Robbie hid some skeletons in his closet. Teaming up with Jeffrey Stenner, Schmidt had performed two high-stakes robberies in 1987 and 1988, making more than $1.5 million. Jeffrey Stenner was a former bank vice president and restaurant owner and had teamed up with a much younger Robbie to unload the armored trucks.

Following the robberies, Stenner realized that Robbie was too open about their little secret in public places, leading him to worry about his safety. Moreover, reports suggest that Stenner may have mistaken Robbie for a mole of the police as well, leading to further suspicion.

Soon, Stenner assembled a team with the help of Scott CanCel, who further added his acquaintances to the list. This included John Grzeszczyk, Gilberto Delgado, and Salvatore Zampi.

With the help of this team, CanCel orchestrated the murder of Schmidt. They allegedly asked Robbie Schmidt to help them run an errand. Soon, John and Gilberto left with Robbie in a car. John was driving while Gilberto allegedly put a rope around Robbie's neck and strangled him. It is suspected that John hit Robbie with some object during the ordeal to keep him subdued.

After murdering Robbie, the duo dumped the body near the Bethel Church, leaving Zampi and CanCel to clean up the rest of the mess.

With things working their way, the five people involved in the murder seemingly got away for some time. But nearly a decade later, technological development helped the authorities identify John Grzeszczyk.

John Grzeszczyk almost immediately cracked under pressure and revealed the whole ploy and his involvement. All five people involved were punished. As for Stenner, who orchestrated the entire ordeal, he was already serving a prison sentence for the robberies when he was charged.

Stenner was ultimately handed out a 60-year prison sentence, which he continues to serve.

The upcoming episode of ID's Dead of Winter will cover this in detail.

Edited by Arshjot Kaur Nagpal