Greenfield child death cold case; jury selection wraps for Ronald Schroeder trial
GREENFIELD, Wis. - Jury selection wrapped on Monday, Oct. 14 for Ronald Schroeder's trial in the 1991 cold case death of his 7-week-old daughter, Catherine Schroeder.
55-year-old Ronald Schroeder, is a convicted sex offender who was once known to perform as "Silly the Clown."
He was long on the very short list of suspects after Catherine died on Aug. 25, 1991, of what doctors ruled was "shaken baby" syndrome.
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A lot of things can change over 30 years, but the Briarwick Apartments near 92nd and Howard in Greenfield have not.
Ronald Schroeder
Around midnight on Aug. 25, 1991, Schroeder – then 22 years old – called 911 to report his daughter was not breathing. Seventeen hours later, Catherine was pronounced dead. Court filings state the events of that night fit a pattern of abuse at the hands of Schroeder with several different women and infants.
The Milwaukee County medical examiner reviewed the autopsy in June 2021 and found Catherine died of blunt force trauma to the head, ruling her death a homicide. Her father was charged that following August.
Ronald Schroeder
Schroeder was charged with first-degree reckless homicide and physical abuse of a child.
In 2008, he was convicted of second-degree sexual assault, 26 counts of secretly photographing an ex-girlfriend and battery in Waukesha County. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for life and sent to prison.
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As his latest trial begins, some of the witnesses have since died. The court has barred his prior work as a clown from being brought up, to not prejudice the jury.
14 jurors were selected, made up of eight women and six men. The trial is scheduled to go into next week.
Opening statements and the state's first witnesses will begin Tuesday, Oct. 15.