MILWAUKEE – 33 years after 55-year-old Ronald Schroeder’s seven-week-old daughter Catherine was found unresponsive at her Greenfield apartment in 1991, the man who performed as “Silly The Clown” will now head to prison for her death.
A jury returned a guilty verdict against Schroeder convicting him of first-degree reckless homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison, as well as a guilty verdict of Physically Abusing A Child: Intentionally Causing Great Bodily Harm which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison. Schroeder also faces up to 110,000 dollars in fines.
Schroeder was the last person with his daughter at the time first responders found her unresponsive and bruised in the apartment. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner at the time determined Catherine Schroeder had ultimately died from blunt force trauma.
Schroeder had also been investigated over separate abuse claims in 1998 and 2005 but wasn’t charged with any crimes until 2021 in the death of his daughter.
A sentencing date is expected next month.
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