# Man says dead mother kept in freezer while he collected benefits



## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2005/04/26/news/news4.txt
_This is in my local paper... I couldnt believe it, its like something I watch on TV on Court TV or AE!_

Man says dead mother kept in freezer while he collected benefits

By TODD RICHMOND -- Associated Press Writer
LA CROSSE, Wisconsin -- A man who told police during a standoff that his dead mother was in his basement freezer said he lived on her Social Security checks since she died almost five years ago, but he knew the aid could soon run out, court documents show.

Philip Schuth told investigators he didn't expect the money to last more than five years, and he was thinking about killing himself with a "12-gauge lobotomy" or committing armed robbery so he would go to jail, according to the documents filed Monday in La Crosse County Circuit Court.

Schuth now is accused of shooting a neighbor during a dispute Friday that led to an overnight standoff, during which he told police he had explosives but also disclosed where his mother's body could be found. After his surrender early Saturday, investigators found the chest-type freezer and chipped away at the ice until they found human remains.

Schuth, 52, told police his elderly mother, Edith, died of natural causes in August 2000, but he didn't tell anyone because he was afraid police would blame him, the documents showed.

Years earlier his mother was attacked by a cat, resulting in her blood landing on the walls of their house, and he was worried he'd be charged with murder, according to the documents. He told investigators he had no other means of income than his mother's Social Security checks.

Circuit Judge Ramona Gonzalez set Schuth's bail at $100,000 Monday, and the district attorney said he expected to charge Schuth next week.

Schuth said almost nothing in court, except to pronounce his last name as "shoof." He rocked in his chair as he waited to face the judge.

Investigators found the freezer at the end of a nearly 15-hour standoff at Schuth's home in the Town of Campbell, located on French Island in the Mississippi River about 110 miles northwest of Madison.

The standoff began when 10-year-old Josh Russell told his father, Randy, that Schuth hit him in Schuth's yard. Randy Russell, his wife, Melissa, and Josh Russell confronted Schuth, who admitted he hit the boy, then pulled out a handgun and opened fire from about eight yards away, according to the court documents. Randy Russell was hit three times before the family fled and called police. He was treated and released at a La Crosse hospital.

Schuth retreated into his house. Three SWAT teams arrived, and Schuth told negotiators he had "more than 10 but less than 100" bombs in the house and 16 firearms, and it would be "high noon" when he surrendered, according to the court documents.

"We were all in danger," said La Crosse County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Wolf, who led the SWAT teams.

He said Schuth watched the standoff on TV news while talking with officers, who eventually talked him into surrendering Saturday.

Wolf declined to detail how they calmed down Schuth, saying only that Schuth told them he has no family and "almost appeared happy he had someone to talk to."

Schuth said his mother was from England and his father, an American, had fought in one of the world wars. Schuth told police he was born in Germany and held only part-time jobs. He graduated from a La Crosse high school and lived most of his life on French Island, but investigators had little more information on him, Wolf said.

Schuth was known around French Island for walking around in a coat and wader-style rubber boots, even in warm weather.

"I know of him and I saw him and I knew where he lived. He walked the streets, the sidewalks of the Town of Campbell all the time," said state Sen. Dan Kapanke, a Republican who lives three blocks from Schuth.

Investigators found 15 to 20 homemade explosive devices, packed with nails, heavy staples and other metal items in the house. Schuth referred to the devices as "anti-personnel," court documents said. They also found a sawed-off shotgun along with 15 other firearms.

In the freezer, police found a block of ice. They chipped away at it and uncovered a human knee.

The ice block was taken to Hastings, Minn., where investigators were still working to chip it apart Monday. Wolf said a body appears to be in the block, intact in a sitting position.

An autopsy is expected to be completed late this week.

Court documents said investigators found $10,000 in cash in the house and checks for a joint account Schuth held with his mother, containing about $25,000.

Schuth told investigators his mother's Social Security checks are deposited electronically in that account. He once switched the account to a different bank after an employee questioned whether his mother was still alive, Schuth told authorities.

County land records showed the home is valued at $56,200, and ownership remains in the name of Edith Schuth.

District Attorney Scott Horne said he plans to charge Schuth next week with attempted homicide and reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting at the Russell family, as well as having improvised explosives, concealing a corpse and possessing a short-barrelled shotgun.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Sounds like someone watches to many CSI programs. 

Lets look at his logic

His mother was scratched by a cat and there was blood on the walls years earlier. She dies later of natural causes and is worried about killing his mother. 

First off did they never paint or even 

clean the walls in "years" even after getting blood on them.
Second if they did a autopsy they would have found out if it was "natural causes"

Sounds to me like he was trying to cover somthing up that he felt guilty about. :?:


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

I heard today that not many people were friends with the dead mother, which would explain why no one knew she was missing. The whole thing though sounds fishy to me... I guess we will find out.


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## mrmoby (Jan 18, 2005)

Well.....at least he kept her in the freezer, Norman Bates kept his mom in a dingy old cellar, and look what it did to her...........but seriously, I'm sure he did it just to keep money coming in, and is now just digging for excuses, but I have heard of this before, maybe not the freezer, but I have read of people who have either hid a relatives body (death by natural causes) or just plain didn't report the death if it wasn't picked up by social security, or whomever provided the benefits.


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

We had the same thing happen in my area last year. He kept his mom in a big garbage can.


RC


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