LEESA JO SHANER KILLER JAILED FOR '73 HOMICIDE

The ruthless killer of Leesa Jo Shaner, who was kidnapped from her car at Tuscon International Airport, violently murdered and left in a shallow grave 38 years ago, has finally been sentenced. William Zamastill was already serving a life sentence in a Wisconsin prison for kidnapping, raping and murdering a woman in that state in 1978. While in prison, he was also convicted in a 2003 killing of a brother and sister in Barstow, Ca. Zamastill had always been a suspect in Shaner’s death, but he slipped through the law’s fingers until authorities reopened the case in 2009 and discovered new evidence.
A judge on Thursday added another life term onto Zamastill’s sentence for kidnapping 22-year-old Shaner from her car in the parking lot of the airport.

Shaner had just given birth to a baby boy six weeks earlier. She was at the airport to meet her husband, an air force officer flying in from his base in Japan. Shaner’s father was an FBI agent who passed away in 2007. “He always had faith that the FBI would bring this to a conclusion and he was right,” said James Turgal Jr., special agent in charge for the Phoenix Division.

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LEESA JO SHANER'S KILLER CONVICTED AFTER 38 YRS.

BYE, BYE SANTA. He is 57 now and will spend the rest of his days behind bars. Almost 40 years after the May 29, 1973 murder of young wife Leesa Jo Shaner in Tucson, her killer has been convicted. Shaner was waiting at the Tucson International Airport for her husband to return from a business trip when sick William Floyd Zamastil kidnapped, raped and murdered her. Her body was discovered in a remote area four months later. The FBI said in a press release:
“The jury’s verdict in this case may finally bring some peace to the Shaner family knowing her murderer has been held
accountable,” stated U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke of today’s verdict.  “Justice has been served by the tireless efforts of our federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents.”

"The FBI is extremely gratified by this verdict," Phoenix Division FBI Special Agent in Charge James Turgal, Jr. stated. "While there can be no real justice for Leesa Jo Shaner's family, at least they were able to witness her killer being called to answer for his crimes,"
The evidence at trial showed that Ms. Shaner left her family home around 9:25 p.m. on May 29, 1973, to pick up her husband from the Tucson International Airport. When her husband arrived he could not find her. The car she drove to the airport was later found in the airport parking lot with the driver’s window halfway down, the car unlocked and her purse inside on the back seat. Despite an extensive search, Ms. Shaner could not be located. 
In September 1973, Ms. Shaner’s remains were found in a shallow grave on Ft. Huachuca, Ariz. Witnesses testified and evidence was presented at trial that Zamastil abducted her from the airport and took her to Ft. Huachuca where he raped, murdered and buried her. Law enforcement officials first became aware of Zamistil’s involvement in Ms. Shaner’s rape and murder in 1979 while he was imprisoned for the rape and murder of a Wisconsin woman.

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