Promising Wharton School student Shannon Schieber was raped and murdered nearly six years ago by a sexual predator who had attacked four other women in Center City in the previous year.
Today, a jury will hear opening statements in a multi-million dollar federal civil rights lawsuit brought against the city by the parents of the slain 23-year-old.
Vicki and Sylvester Schieber's suit argues that if the city had properly handled previous sexual assault cases, and kept its beat cops better trained and apprised of a serial rapist on the loose in the area, Shannon Schieber might still be alive today.
But on May 7, 1998, Troy Graves climbed into Schieber's apartment through a second-floor balcony. He strangled her to death when she struggled as he raped her.
Four years later, Graves was apprehended in Fort Collins, Colo., and charged with Schieber's murder, as well as sex assaults in both states. Now 31, he is serving a life prison sentence.
The Schieber lawsuit asserts that the city committed a civil rights violation that amounts to discrimination against women.
The contention is based on evidence the family intends to present that indicates the Police Department frequently downgraded sex crimes to lesser offenses more frequently than it downgraded other crimes.
Two of Graves' four Center City sex attacks before Schieber's murder were classified as "investigation of person" cases.
The Schiebers are seeking $3.8 million in damages - a figure arrived at by calculating the future earnings of the young doctoral student. They are also seeking an unspecified amount in the pain and suffering of her death, and are advocating for better training of cops.
The city admits that police downgraded offenses, but contends the practice occurred across the board, affecting men as well as women.
They say the Schiebers' claims are based on speculation, and the only responsible party is Graves himself - an agile predator who struck repeatedly by sneaking through openings so small that police thought one victim had made up her story.
Graves confessed to his crimes after police connected DNA from his five attacks here to eight attacks in Colorado.
The trial before federal judge Norma Shapiro is expected to last roughly two weeks.
At least one of Graves' Center City victims is on the Schiebers' witness list.
Also on the list is a police officer who stopped Graves in September 1997, months prior to Schieber's murder, but then let him go after finding no outstanding warrants on him. The beat cop is expected to testify that he might have taken Graves in for questioning if he had been told a serial rapist had struck in the area.
Lawyers for both the Schiebers and the city declined comment yesterday.
