‘Quiet’ neighbor had huge cache of weapons
Decorated Vietnam vet
had stash of military
hardware, including
rocket launchers
Marie Ortiz A Spotswood firefighter finishes work at the Schaefle residence on DeVoe Avenue on Monday. The police and fire squads were asked to continue with a search for cadavers or weaponry after the fire was contained.
A Spotswood resident arrested last weekend on a series of weapons charges is a "quiet, cooperative, isolated" man, whose drive to amass an arsenal that included machine guns and a missile launcher may have been fueled by post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his attorney.
"This man is, according to the police themselves, no Rambo," said A. Kenneth Weiner, the East Brunswick defense attorney who represents Richard E. Schaefle.
Schaefle, 87 DeVoe Ave., was initially arrested late Saturday when firefighters, responding to a blaze at his home, alerted police to the large quantity of weapons inside.
In their initial report, police said that firefighters arrived at Schaefle’s home to find a fire in the kitchen and discovered Schaefle, 54, in the driveway, where he landed after jumping from a second-story window.
MARIE ORTIZ Firefighters responded to a structure fire at the Schaefle residence on Sunday evening, where they uncovered an arsenal of unregistered weapons within the house. The DeVoe Avenue home was so secluded that many residents didn’t even know it was there.
Police said they discovered "numerous weapons, including military rocket launchers, assault weapons, handguns, smoke grenades and many thousands of rounds of ammunition" in Schaefle’s home and called on the federal Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the New Jersey State Police Bomb Disposal and ballistics units for assistance.
Authorities reportedly removed three pickup truckloads, or more than 300 weapons, from the house.
Meanwhile, Schaefle was charged with possession of an illegal weapon and an illegal magazine and released after he posted 10 percent of a $50,000 bond.
On Monday, following a preliminary investigation, Schaefle turned himself into authorities and was arrested on charges that include 10 counts of possession of an illegal machine gun. At press time, he was being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick, on $750,000 bond.
Michael Weiss, Middlesex County assistant prosecutor, indicated that additional charges were likely once an inventory of the weapons seized from Schaefle’s home was complete.
"We’re going to start going through the guns tomorrow," Weiss said Monday, as the search of Schaefle’s home continued. Federal officers from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms "are going to run the serial number on every single gun," Weiss added.
He noted that determining who sold Schaefle the weapons may be difficult.
Schaefle doesn’t have a police record and Weiss said that the ongoing investigation hasn’t turned up evidence that the decorated Vietnam veteran ever intended to use any of the weapons.
"There’s stuff everywhere," Weiss said of Schaefle’s home. "He was probably collecting them in his own weird way," he added.
In addition to a wide range of firearms, police searches have yielded knives, Nazi paraphernalia and a trio of skulls — all testimony to his client’s compulsion to collect, said Weiner.
The presence of the skulls prompted Spotswood authorities to seek the assistance of the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department cadaver dogs Monday. The animals have been trained to search for human remains, but no human remains were found at the home.
According to Weiner, one of the three skulls is an anatomical model that came from Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital, where Schaefle worked as a radiology technician for more than 20 years.
Schaefle purchased the other two skulls at the Englishtown Auction, the lawyer said.
"He’s a collector," Weiner said. "Guns, art, antiquities."
According to Weiner, Schaefle was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1949. He attended Rutgers Prep and Rider College and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force when he was 18 or 19 years old.
Weiner said his client served in Vietnam during 1967 and 1968, was present at the Tet offensive and was honorably discharged in 1971. "He saw live action. He was a medic. He received a Bronze Star," the attorney said.
Schaefle was married briefly and divorced. His parents have since died, Weiner said.
"He has a girlfriend," Weiner said, "but he told me that in the past 15 years, no one has been in his house – no one, except maybe his stepson one time."
Schaefle is now employed at the Community Hospital in Toms River.
Weiner said he believes his client is a "nonviolent, non-evil human being" who will likely be punished, but also needs help.
"And I think the state is interested in seeking the same psychiatric profile that I am interested in," he added.
Meanwhile, neighbors gathered to watch the continuing search Monday were amazed at the size of the weapons cache seized by police.
"I was shocked," said Jack Agugliaro, a Spotswood resident for 30 years. "I couldn’t think such a thing could happen in the neighborhood."
Agugliaro, who lives on Mundy Avenue, around the corner from Schaefle’s home, said Schaefle was so quiet and his house – set back from the road and nearly hidden behind trees – was so isolated that "no one even knew he was there."
The neighborhood is small enough that "we would have heard" if Schaefle had created problems, he added.
During Monday night’s Borough Council meeting, officials shared some of their feelings on the incident with concerned residents.
"I have never met this man, nor did I hear anything about him until now," said Mayor Barry Zagnit. "In fact, the shrubs were so overgrown in front of his home that most people would tell you they didn’t even know there was a house back there."
Councilwoman Judy Ruffo added that she almost viewed the fire as a blessing in disguise. "If it hadn’t been for that alarm, we may have never found this guy, let alone discovered what was inside him home.
"We’re just thankful that none of our brave firefighters or policemen were hurt in the process," she said.
Mayor Zagnit then extended a heartfelt thanks to both squads for taking quick action in containing a situation that otherwise could have proved disastrous.
"They risked their lives for this community and for that we’re very grateful," he said.
Spotswood resident Frank Kardashian later asked the council members if they thought having a full-time code enforcer on staff could have prevented the incident.
Right now, the borough only has part-time inspectors.
"Even a full-time enforcer would have had no just cause to enter the property. There were no visible violations from the outside," said council President Jim Shearn.
"Every person is entitled to their privacy, and overgrown shrubs hardly qualify as a safety violation."
Zagnit agreed.
"We can’t just have our inspectors drive around looking for problems all the time," said Zagnit. "If they are tipped off to something, that is a different story. But there were never any problems associated with this man."
Others echoed that statement.
"The bottom line is that nobody had anything negative to say about this man," said Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton. "Even now, the only remarks we’ve heard describe him as a quiet, nice man who never bothered anyone. There were never any neighbor complaints."
Meanwhile, at the American Legion Post across the street, those at the bar were surprised when they checked their membership roll and discovered the cause of recent neighborhood excitement was a member in good standing. They said, however, that they don’t recall Schaefle ever coming in to the post or ever seeing him. Even to them, he is just a quiet man across the street.
Staff writer Nicole Vaccaro contributed to this story.