A Minoqua man has been charged in his wife’s murder. William Schmidt is charged with first-degree intentional homicide for causing his wife Lori’s death sometime between June 12th and June 18th. Police found Lori Schmidt’s decomposing body wrapped up in a comforter in the master bedroom closet June 17th after her parents called to say they had not talked to her for five days. A criminal complaint filed Friday in Oneida County describes a rocky marriage between William and Lori Schmidt and that Lori had told her mother before her death that her husband “was not a good person.”
An autopsy report finalized this week ruled that Lori Schmidt’s cause of death was homicide by unspecified means. The complaint says Schmidt was upset that Lori would not have sex with him and says Lori had hidden jewelry from her husband because she did not trust him. Schmidt confessed to his mother that he killed his wife but said it happened after she had passed out and that she did not suffer. He also admitted trying to kill himself three times but that he failed at each attempt.
Schmidt turned himself in to police at his mother’s home in Sheboygan Falls on June 24th. He remains jailed in Oneida County on a probation hold and will make his first court appearance on Monday.
Matt Lehman, WSAU