A Little Less Mess: The Unsolved Murder of Lisa Pruett [Ohio]

Cara (0:21)

Hey, everyone, welcome to Bless This Mess and the True Crime Podcast. I'm Cara, just Cara. This is A Little Less Mess, our Monday mini-sode where we step outside the South for a case that is strange, unsettling and just a little less messy than our full Thursday episodes. Now before we get started, here's a quick reminder of our weekly schedule. On Thursdays, Stu and I are back together for our regular full-length Southern True Crime Cases. And if you want early ad-free access to everything on the main feed, plus our Friday bonus show Sit and Sippin and Bullshitin, come join our Patreon family. You can also follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for True Crime and Inner Time, Cozy Mystery Movie Club, and True Crime Documentary Recommendations. And as always, the best free way to support the show is to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you are listening. Alright, let's get into this week's case out of Ohio.

Lisa Pruett was 16 years old and lived in Shaker Heights, an affluent Cleveland suburb known for its large homes, strong schools, and close-knit neighbors.

Lisa was bright, active, and involved in a lot of things at Shaker Heights High School. She participated in student council, marching band, softball, field hockey, and the school newspaper. She loved writing and poetry. Friends remembered her as funny, smart, and full of energy.

She was dating Dan Dreifurt, a classmate she had known for years. Their relationship had grown closer after a school band trip to Germany in April 1990 By that September, Lisa was very much in love. She made tapes for Dan, wrote him long notes, and kept what she called a happy book, filled with newspaper clippings and little things that made her smile.

September 13th should have been a happy day for her. She had passed her driving test. Dan had come back to school that afternoon after spending 35 days in a psychiatric facility, and she was excited to see him. Dan had his own struggles. He was part of a group of friends who were into music, band culture, and teenage rebellion. He played in a band with a very 1990 name, Your Mother and Her Howling Commandos. His friends had called themselves the Black Glove Cult. They drank cough syrup at what they referred to as robo parties. Dan had also spent time in psychiatric treatment and had recently been discharged from the Cleveland Clinic. According to later reporting, he had struggled with suicidal thoughts and medication. That evening of September 13th, 1990, Lisa's father drove her to Dan's house after her flute practice. Lisa got out of the car and talked with Dan for a few minutes. They went around the side of the house, kissed, and talked privately. When they came back toward the driveway, Dan joked about cutting Lisa's hair, and Lisa told him she planned to sneak out later and return around midnight or 1230

A few friends were supposed to come over too. Lisa went home. Later that night, Dan was at home with his family. One friend, Ken Tex Warpman, had been there earlier, but he left. Dan's parents were in their bedroom. His sister Deb was away at college and called home. Lisa, meanwhile, left her own house after midnight to head back toward Dan's home. She never made it inside. At around 1230 a.m., screams were heard outside near the Driford home. Lisa was attacked in a neighbor's yard, only about 30 feet from Dan's house. She had been stabbed 21 times with a knife-like weapon.

By the time police arrived, Lisa was dead. Her bicycle was found hidden in bushes near the sidewalk. The murder weapon was never recovered. The medical examiner determined that Lisa had not been raped. Their early reporting in the case fueled speculation and confusion about what had happened. The location was immediately startling. Lisa was killed just steps from the home of the boyfriend she had planned to see. And police began asking the obvious question. Who knew she would be there? Dan was initially treated as a suspect. He told police that he had heard screams and believed they sounded like a woman being forced to do something she did not want to do.

He said he and his father went outside, but did not see anything unusual.

He later said he remembered Lisa was supposed to come over and found her bicycle, called her house, and then called 911 There were parts of the night that investigators and later reporters found unusual.

Dan told officers different things about whether he had heard the screams. His father said Dan was fully dressed and wearing shoes when they responded. Dan later went to sleep while police searched outside for Lisa.