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Thread: Patrick Wayne Schroeder - Nebraska

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    Patrick Wayne Schroeder - Nebraska


    Terry L. Berry

    58fa6016bf843.image.jpg
    Patrick W. Schroeder


    Inmate in Prison for Life Charged in Tecumseh death

    A Tecumseh inmate spending life in prison was charged Friday with first-degree murder for allegedly strangling his 22-year-old cellmate last week.

    Patrick W. Schroeder, 39, is also charged with use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, according to the Nebraska Attorney General's Office.

    Terry L. Berry was found unresponsive in his cell April 15 just after 7:30 p.m. He was taken to Bryan Medical Center and pronounced dead five days later.

    Berry was serving three to four years for felony forgery and a jail assault conviction from Platte County. He had a parole hearing scheduled for next month, and his release date was in December.

    Schroeder and Berry were the only occupants in the cell at Tecumseh State Correctional Institution before Berry was found unresponsive.

    Video surveillance showed a corrections corporal had conducted a check of the inmates around 7:12 p.m. About 25 minutes later, the same corporal returned to remove a phone cart from another cell when Schroeder told him that Berry was lying on the floor, unconscious with a white towel around his neck, according to a court document.

    Investigators said the towel had creases near the ends as though it had been pulled and held tightly. Berry also had injuries on his neck that were consistent with being strangled, along with several small bruises on his hands and arms, the document says.

    An autopsy conducted in Omaha on Friday confirmed the cause of death to be strangulation, and the manner of death to be homicide.

    Nebraska State Ombudsman Marshall Lux said his staff told him the incident occurred in the special-management unit, which holds inmates in segregation or solitary confinement.

    Earlier, Lux said he had questions for prison officials.

    "Why were there two people in that one cell?" Lux said.

    Corrections Director Scott Frakes was questioned Thursday about double bunking in the segregation unit at Tecumseh.

    He said it was very limited, but "using the correct tools and in the right setting and with the right population, it's safe and it's OK to house people in a restrictive housing setting with two people in a cell. Just like it is in general population."

    The Tecumseh prison housed an average of 1,032 inmates each day in the last quarter of 2016, operating at 107 percent of its design capacity, according to the department's latest population numbers.

    Schroeder was in prison for first-degree murder, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony and six counts of second-degree forgery out of Pawnee County, according to records.

    He killed 75-year-old Pawnee City farmer Kenneth Albers on April 14, 2006. During Schroeder's sentencing hearing the next year, Pawnee County District Court Judge Daniel Bryan said Schroeder killed the farmer because he was "tired of pinching pennies."

    Schroeder confessed to the crime but investigators initially suspected him after finding that the day before Albers was killed, Albers had filed a report with the Pawnee County Sheriff’s office alleging Schroeder had stolen his checkbook on April 10 or 11 and forged a check for about $1,350.

    Prosecutors said Schroeder went to Albers' home with a plan to rob him. He demanded money from Albers and then hit him once with a nightstick. Albers led Schroeder to his bedroom and handed over several thousand dollars in cash. After that, Schroeder took Albers to a machine shed and hit him with the nightstick four or five more times before taking his body to an abandoned well south of the farm.

    http://journalstar.com/news/local/91...e1d6a31f0.html
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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    Prosecutors consider seeking death penalty in cellmate killing

    TECUMSEH -- Prosecutors say they are considering seeking the death penalty for Patrick Schroeder, the inmate facing murder charges in the death of his cellmate last month.

    After a brief hearing Wednesday, Schroeder was whisked away and headed back to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution north of town.

    In the hallway, Mike Guinan of the Nebraska Attorney General's office said they are pondering whether to file aggravators necessary to make it a capital case and would decide by Schroeder's arraignment in June.

    "We are looking at the aggravators, yes," he said.

    On April 15 just after 7:30 p.m., Terry L. Berry, 22, was found unconscious on the floor with a towel around his neck in the cell he shared with Schroeder, according to court records. He was taken to a Lincoln hospital, where he died five days later.

    Investigators said Berry had injuries that were consistent with being strangled, a court document says.

    An autopsy confirmed the cause of death to be strangulation, and the manner of death to be homicide.

    It's unclear why Berry, who was serving a short sentence on a forgery charge and up for parole a month later, shared space with Schroeder, who was serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old Pawnee City farmer in 2006, in a cell meant to house a single inmate.

    The issue is likely to be raised should the case go to trial.

    "We are asking the same questions," said Schroeder's attorney, Sarah Newell of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.

    It also is likely to be a question for the grand jury that will review Berry's death.

    Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith said he hasn't yet requested a grand jury in Berry's killing, or any of the five killings at the Tecumseh prison in the past two years.

    He said the investigations all are still pending.

    http://journalstar.com/news/local/91...aa543ab18.html
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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    Prosecutors will seek death penalty in cellmate killing

    By Lori Pilger
    The Lincoln Journal-Star

    TECUMSEH -- Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for Patrick Schroeder, the inmate facing murder charges in the strangling death of his cellmate last month.

    After a brief hearing Wednesday, Schroeder was whisked away and headed back to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution north of town.

    In the hallway, Mike Guinan of the Nebraska Attorney General's office said they, along with Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith, are pondering whether to file aggravators necessary to make it a capital case and would decide by Schroeder's arraignment in June.

    "We are looking at the aggravators, yes," he said.

    On April 15 just after 7:30 p.m., Terry L. Berry, 22, was found unconscious on the floor with a towel around his neck in the cell he shared with Schroeder, according to court records. He was taken to a Lincoln hospital, where he died five days later.

    Investigators said Berry had injuries that were consistent with being strangled, a court document says.

    An autopsy confirmed the cause of death to be strangulation, and the manner of death to be homicide.

    It's unclear why Berry, who was serving a short sentence on a forgery charge and up for parole a month later, shared a cell with Schroeder, who was serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old Pawnee City farmer in 2006.

    The cell in the prison's special management unit -- used to separate inmates who break rules or pose a risk to staff or other inmates or for an inmate's own protection -- was built to house a single inmate.

    "Almost immediately it did raise some concerns and raised concerns with a lot of people looking at corrections," Doug Koebernick, the inspector general for Corrections, said Wednesday.

    He's investigating why Berry was placed at Tecumseh and what he was doing in restrictive housing, in addition to what happened the night he was killed.

    "I'll be trying to get to the bottom of it," Koebernick said.

    The issue seems likely to be raised should the case go to trial.

    "We are asking the same questions," said Schroeder's attorney, Sarah Newell of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.

    It also could be a question for the grand jury that will be called to review Berry's death.

    Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith said he hasn't yet requested a grand jury in Berry's killing, or in the killings of two inmates at the Tecumseh prison March 2.

    He said the investigations are all still pending, as is one looking into the killing of two inmates during a Mother's Day riot in 2015.

    Last month, Omaha Sen. Bob Krist called for a reopening of the special legislative investigative committee to look into the continued problems at the prisons.

    "We need to make sure that there's accountability for the (inmate) lives that have been lost in the last two and a half years," he said within days of Berry's killing.

    On the floor of the Legislature then, he asked who was responsible for the pairings of inmates and, on Wednesday, said he still questions how the two ended up in one cell.

    Krist said he's since learned that Berry was a "pretty obnoxious person." Some wouldn't even sit at dinner with him because he constantly chattered and was an antagonist, Krist said.

    "So why would you put a convicted murderer in the same cell?" he asked. "My basic point is that I don't even think you should double bunk in administrative segregation cells. They're too small. You're asking for problems."

    After Berry's killing, Corrections Director Scott Frakes said double bunking in the segregation unit at Tecumseh was very limited and defended its use.

    He said "using the correct tools and in the right setting and with the right population, it's safe and it's OK to house people in a restrictive housing setting with two people in a cell. Just like it is in general population."

    On Wednesday, prison spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said state law prevents her from speaking directly about the circumstances in this case, but said generally that numerous factors are considered when making cell assignments, including things like criminal history, institutional behavior and gang affiliation.

    As for double bunking in restrictive housing, she said, it's done at prisons around the country.

    "It is a more efficient use of space and it can lessen the feeling of isolation when another person is in the cell," Smith said.

    In June 2015, she said, the prison made a change to allow all restrictive housing cells to be double bunked. There currently are about 100 cells that are double bunked in Tecumseh's restrictive housing unit. At the end of last week, only 10 had two inmates in them.

    The practice also is done at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Omaha Correctional Center and Lincoln Correctional Center.

    http://journalstar.com/news/local/91...aa543ab18.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Inmate who killed his cellmate deserves death penalty, attorney says

    By Paul Hammel
    The Omaha World-Herald

    LINCOLN — A prison inmate who killed his cellmate deserves the death penalty because he had committed a prior murder and has a history of violence, Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith says in a new court filing.

    Smith and prosecutors with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office had previously announced that they would see the death penalty against Patrick Schroeder, who is accused of choking Terry Berry Jr. to death on April 15 inside their cell at the Tecumseh State Prison.

    By law, the state must declare which aggravating circumstances exist that warrant a death penalty in a first-degree murder case.

    On Friday, Smith filed a court document, stating that he intends to prove that two aggravating circumstances existed in the crime: Schroeder had previously committed a murder (he’s serving a life sentence for the 2006 murder of a Pawnee County farmer); and he has a substantial history of serious assaultive or terrorizing criminal activity.

    If Schroeder, 39, is found guilty of first-degree murder in Berry’s death, a second sentencing trial would be held to weigh whether he deserves the death penalty. Part of the process involves weighing the so-called aggravating circumstances against any mitigating circumstances that might have existed.

    Schroeder is next scheduled to appear in Johnson County District Court on June 20.

    http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/inma...7c7f394ed.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Inmate's attorney asks judge to declare death penalty unconstitutional

    By Lori Pilger
    The Lincoln Journal-Star

    An attorney for the Tecumseh prison inmate accused of strangling his cellmate in April has asked the Johnson County judge hearing his case to declare Nebraska's death penalty unconstitutional.

    Prosecutors are seeking the ultimate punishment for Patrick Schroeder, the inmate facing a first-degree murder charge in the strangling death of his cellmate April 15.

    He was set to appear by video from the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution north of town at a brief hearing Tuesday afternoon to be arraigned on charges.

    Earlier this month, Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith filed an information that alleged an aggravating circumstance -- that Schroeder previously was convicted of another murder -- which would make the case eligible for the death penalty.

    Schroeder is serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old Pawnee City farmer in 2006.

    On April 15, Terry L. Berry, 22, was found unconscious on the floor with a towel around his neck in the cell he shared with Schroeder, according to court records. He was taken to a Lincoln hospital, where he died five days later.

    An autopsy confirmed the cause of death to be strangulation, and the manner of death to be homicide.

    Late afternoon Monday, one of his attorneys, Todd Lancaster of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, filed a 31-page motion asking the court to declare sections of the state's death penalty statutes unconstitutional.

    http://journalstar.com/news/local/91...308604d34.html
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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    Inmate drops attorneys, pleads guilty to murder in Tecumseh cellmate's death

    By Emily Nohr
    The Omaha World-Herald

    TECUMSEH, Neb. — The case of an inmate accused of choking his cellmate to death is now headed to the death penalty phase.

    Patrick Schroeder, 40, on Friday dropped his attorneys and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony.

    He also withdrew a motion challenging the constitutionality of Nebraska’s death penalty law.

    The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office in May had announced that capital punishment would be sought in the case.

    Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith said last month he intended to prove that two aggravating circumstances existed in the crime: Schroeder had previously committed a murder (he’s serving a life sentence for the 2006 murder of a Pawnee County farmer), and he has a substantial history of serious assaultive or terrorizing criminal activity.

    The proceedings now involve weighing the alleged aggravating circumstances against any mitigating circumstances that might have existed.

    Schroeder indicated Friday that he wants to waive his right to have a jury decide aggravating factors against him.

    Johnson County District Court Judge Vicky Johnson will take that issue up at Schroeder’s next hearing, scheduled for Aug. 22.

    Johnson reappointed defense attorneys Sarah Newell and Todd Lancaster on the death penalty portion of the proceedings.

    Schroeder said he wanted to dismiss his attorneys because he didn’t agree with their advice.

    “They don’t feel comfortable going the way I want to go,” he said.

    Prosecutors say Schroeder strangled his Tecumseh State Prison cellmate, Terry Berry Jr., on April 15.

    Berry, 22, had minimal time left to serve. He was convicted of forging checks and assaulting a county jailer.

    In court Friday, Assistant Attorney General Doug Warner gave the following account of Berry’s death:

    Schroeder and Berry were placed in the same cell on April 10.

    Schroeder told prison staff he didn’t want Berry as a cellmate and referred to him as a loudmouth and a punk.

    Schroeder said Berry never stopped talking about a television show and was unclean.

    Schroeder said he “hit his threshold.”

    He wrapped his arm around Berry’s neck and squeezed for five minutes “until his arm got tired.”

    He then retrieved a towel and twisted it around Berry’s neck until he knew he was dead.

    Schroeder said he tried to alert prison staff, but no one responded until a routine check.

    Authorities later found a note in his cell’s trash can. It was written by Schroeder, but had been ripped up.

    It read: “You really need to get Terry Berry out of my cell before he gets hurt.”

    http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/inma...22d4de1b6.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Judges appointed to sit on Tecumseh inmates' death penalty hearing

    By Lori Pilger
    The Lincoln Journal-Star

    Two judges have been chosen to sit with Johnson County District Judge Vicky Johnson to determine if a Tecumseh state prison inmate who killed his cellmate deserves to get the death penalty for his crime.

    Last month, Patrick Schroeder, a lifer, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for killing Terry Berry, his cellmate, on April 15.

    In an order last week, the Nebraska Supreme Court randomly selected Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte and Buffalo County District Judge John Marsh to the three-judge panel that will consider if Schroeder has committed a prior murder or has a substantial history of serious assaults, as the state alleges.

    He already is serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old Pawnee City farmer in 2006.

    The panel also will weigh mitigating circumstances to determine if he should be put to death for it.

    A hearing date hasn't yet been set.

    http://journalstar.com/news/local/91...313b2c29a.html

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    December 28, 2017

    Inmate convicted for killing cellmate at Tecumseh prison changes mind about representation; death sentence hearing postponed

    LINCOLN — A prison inmate convicted of killing his cellmate says he now wants an attorney to represent him in a hearing to decide whether he will get a death sentence.

    Inmate Patrick Schroeder initially declined to have a court-appointed attorney represent him during the “mitigation” hearing, when a defendant offers evidence of circumstances, such as mental impairment or “extreme mental or emotional disturbance,” that oppose a death sentence.

    In a motion filed Wednesday, Sarah Newell of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy said that Schroeder had changed his mind and now wants her to represent him.

    Because of the change, the first step in deciding whether a death penalty will be imposed — an aggravation hearing set for Jan. 23-24 — has been postponed. A new date for that hearing has not yet been set.

    Schroeder, who is serving life in prison for murder, pleaded guilty in the April choking death of his cellmate, Terry Berry, 22.

    In July, Schroeder, 40, testified that Berry was obnoxious, would not stop talking and had pushed him to his “threshold.”

    The case raised questions about double-bunking solitary confinement cells that were designed for one inmate, and about the pairing of a murderer serving a life sentence with an inmate convicted of a minor crime who was about to be released.

    http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/inma...cfce49ef4.html

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    February 28, 2018

    Inmate who killed cellmate at Tecumseh will represent himself at death-penalty hearing

    TECUMSEH, Neb. — Convicted murderer Patrick Schroeder will represent himself when a three-judge panel decides if he will get life in prison or the death penalty for killing his cellmate.

    On Tuesday, Johnson County District Judge Vicky Johnson granted Schroeder’s request to set aside his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself during the April 19-20 sentencing hearing.

    Schroeder, 40, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for strangling Terry Berry at the Tecumseh State Prison on April 15. He said that Berry, 22, would not stop talking and had pushed him to his “threshold.”

    The attack, in the prison’s solitary confinement unit, raised questions about the practice of placing two inmates in a cell designed for one, and placing a lifer with a younger inmate, who was about to be released on parole. Berry’s death was the fifth slaying of an inmate at the Tecumseh prison in the past three years.

    Schroeder is serving a life sentence for murdering a Pawnee County farmer in 2006.

    A court-appointed attorney will be available to Schroeder at the hearing to answer questions, but will not prepare arguments.

    http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/inma...54f43775b.html

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    Facing Likely Death Sentence, Prison Murderer Will Tell Judges He Won’t Challenge Execution

    By Bill Kelly
    NET Website

    Patrick Schroeder doesn't disagree with the state's plans to sentence him to death.

    “When I knew that they were going to be charging me with the death penalty, I knew what my choices were," Schroeder told NET News. "I knew what I was going to do.”

    He’s not going to put up a fight.

    Schroeder strangled his cellmate at the Tecumseh Correctional Institution on April 15, 2017, and made his confession before Terry Berry, Jr. died, never coming out of a coma.

    One year later Schroeder is scheduled to appear in the Johnson County courthouse before a panel of three Nebraska district court judges who will determine if the inmate meets the legal qualification for death by lethal injection.

    Last fall Schroeder made the extraordinary decision to proceed with the remainder of the legal proceedings without the state-appointed lawyers prepared to defend him. At one point the attorneys advanced a motion to declare Nebraska's death penalty process unconstitutional. Schroder shut down that effort and waived his right to an attorney in future proceedings.

    NET News reviewed all executions conducted in Nebraska since statehood and found no other case in which the accused voluntarily dropped any impediment to proceeding with the death penalty before the sentence was even pronounced.

    The case began in 2006 when Schroder murdered 75-year-old Kenny Albers, a Pawnee City farmer who had once given him a job. An Otoe County jury sentenced Schroeder to life in prison.

    With the Tecumseh prison chronically overcrowded, Schroeder was not given his own cell in the Special Management Unit. Five days after Berry moved into the cell Schroeder attacked him.

    Bill Kelly of NET News recorded two phone calls with Schroeder who wanted an opportunity to explain why he was not challenging a possible death sentence.

    Bill Kelly (NET News): You entered the guilty plea for the murder of your cellmate and you told the ourt you don't want lawyers to represent you even during this coming hearing, even though you might be sentenced to death. Why did you do that?

    Patrick Schroeder: Well, I had plead guilty to it because I'm taking responsibility for my actions and it was kind of obvious that I'm the one that did it. As far as the reason for firing my attorneys, the way I want to go about doing it and the way they would have to go about doing it, it's two different ways.

    They're obligated to give me their best defense and, I guess, I don't want them to sit there and start making excuses for reasons (that I killed Terry Berry). I did what I did. I'm taking responsibility for my actions. I don't want some lawyer telling the courts that, "Well, he did it for this reason or that reason." I'm not going to go through that.

    Kelly: That does mean that you're facing the death penalty at this point.

    Schroeder: Yes, it does.

    Kelly: You've really thought through that?

    Schroeder: From day one, when I knew that they were going to be charging me with the death penalty, I knew what my choices were, I knew what I was going to do. That's just like on my first case with the Kenny Albers case. The first time the cops come talk to me, I explained everything to them, I'm not going to lie to them (See editor’s note below). I take responsibility for my actions. I knew what I was doing.

    Kelly: Can you talk about what happened in your cell that day?

    Schroeder: I got tired of him. You got to kind of, I guess, back up a little bit on that. These cells are 12 by 10. I've got a case of OCD. I don't do well with cellies (cellmates) to begin with, it's too small of an area. In segregation, which is where we were at when it happened, you're locked down 23 hours a day. They never asked me if I wanted a celly, they never made me aware of it until they brought him in. I'm doing a life sentence, I'm never getting out, and he's in here for writing some checks. There was no compatibility at all.

    Kelly: Did you think at some point in time you were going to kill him kind of regardless of what the scenario was going to be? Did you just see it heading in that direction?

    Schroeder: Honestly, I knew as soon as they moved him in my room on April 10 that it was probably going to end up in that situation, yes.

    Kelly: Did you warn Terry Berry that he might be killed?

    Schroeder: I told him on two different occasions, "You need to figure out a way to get outta here or something bad's going to happen to you." Then on another occasion I explained to him, "Hey, this isn't going to end well for you."

    Kelly: Would this have been a risk for anybody who was put with you?

    Schroeder: Not necessarily. If somebody I know, somebody that knows how to do time, that was the main issue with him is he didn't know how to do time. I've been down for 12 years and you put somebody in that don't know how to do time, that's childish, and don't know how to act right, it's a disaster. If it would've been somebody I knew, like I said, that knew how to do time, it'd have been a whole different story.

    Kelly: The prosecuting attorney mentioned that it was a television program (Terry Berry) was talking about that set you off. Is that your memory?

    Schroeder: Well, it wasn't so much a television show that set it off. We were watching UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts) and he just kept talking, and talking, and wouldn't shut up. I told him, I said, "I'm going to put you in a rear naked choke hold if you don't shut up." That's exactly what I ended up doing. He said something, I can't even recall what it was, and I just snapped, and kind of put him in a choke hold, and I held him in a choke hold until my arm got tired, then I wrapped a towel around his neck. That's basically what happened.

    Kelly: There are going to be people who are going to hear this and say, "If somebody's a bad roommate, they still don't deserve to die."

    Schroeder: And they're right, they don't, but that was the step that I took. That was the decision that I chose to take. I'm me, I made the decision. That's one of the reasons I took responsibility for my actions and pled guilty instead of dragging it out and have 12 people from society (a jury) come in and have to go through something that they didn't have to go through, didn't need to go through. It was a decision I made.

    Kelly: Where do they take you after (the murder); does the questioning start right away?

    Schroeder: No. That happened on Saturday, I didn't actually get questioned until Monday by (the) State Patrol.

    Kelly: You told them just like you told me.

    Schroeder: Exactly what happened. I told her exactly what happened.

    Kelly: While you're talking to the patrolman, are you feeling anything?

    Schroeder: Nothing. It's just like me and you sitting here talking. There's no emotion. I wish I could find somebody I could talk to that could tell me why. Mental health around here, they got so much other crap going on with other people that I don't even try to bother to talk to them. I don't know why I don't feel any remorse or emotions.

    Kelly: Do you feel like death is an appropriate punishment for somebody who murders within the penitentiary?

    Schroeder: To answer that real quick, yes. I believe in the death penalty, I honestly do. I believe if you kill somebody it's kind of an eye for an eye. I also believe that child molesters should be sentenced to death. That's my opinion. I'm probably one of the few inmates that actually believes in the death penalty.

    Kelly: There's been a lot of discussion that the method of lethal injection has not been tested in the state yet. Do you have any fears about that particular method and the type of chemicals that they will use if you face lethal injection?

    Schroeder: Not really. To me, whether it's painless or there's pain involved, I did what I did. I got what I got coming.

    Kelly: You're pretty harsh with Mr. Terry. I'm wondering if you feel bad about his death?

    Schroeder: I do not. Even back when the whole Kenny Albers deal. I have no emotions about the death of him or the death of Terry Berry. There's no emotions, no remorse.

    Kelly: Why do you think that is?

    Schroeder: I don't know. I've asked the mental health people here and they won't give me an answer. That's one thing, it bothers me that I don't have any feelings. That's another reason, and I explained it to Sarah, my attorney (from the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, since fired by Schroeder, on a couple different occasions about why I'm not going to fight the death penalty because is if they just give me another life sentence, I honestly feel that I'll kill again. There is no emotion there. To me, it's just something that can be done.

    Kelly: Do you ever think about how life could've been different for you?

    Schroeder: Well, I don't really worry about the past. I can't change it. I don't worry about the future, because, well, it's not here yet. I do my days kind of a day-to-day basis. I don't worry about things that I have no control over. Like the past, I have no control over. I can sit here, and lay in bed, and daydream about what things would've been like if I wouldn't have killed Kenny Albers and what maybe a perfect life I would've had, but it's all fairy tales and dreams. I don't do that.

    Kelly: What kind of guy were you before Kenny Albers died?

    Schroeder: I worked. I've got a criminal record that goes back to when I was about eight-years-old. I did a lot of stealing and thieving and stuff like that. As of right now, I've already got a first-degree murder charge on me, I've got another one that I'm facing, I've got a bank robbery charge, I've got a weapons charge. The only thing I've never been convicted of is drugs. If it's on the books, I've been charged with it, I guess. That and sex crimes, I've never. Nothing like that.

    Kelly: You given any thought to why you are the way you are?

    Schroeder: I have and I've never been able to come up with an answer. It's kind of like this whole Albers, Berry situation of why don't I feel any remorse? To me, you can compare it to taking out the trash. There's no emotion there. I don't understand why. I wish I did. I think that'd clear up a whole lot of things in my head.

    Kelly: Was there anything you liked about your life before you ended up on the homicide charge?

    Schroeder: Well, don't get me wrong. I loved my life. My wife, kids, job. I was always looking for the easy way out, which is just kind of the way I was raised. I rebelled since I was probably 10 or 11-years-old. No, I liked my life before all this happened, but it all happened, it was all over money.

    Kelly: How so?

    Schroeder: Well, with the Albers deal, it was a robbery. That's what that was over.

    Kelly: What happened that day? What happened the day Mr. Albers died?

    Schroeder: I had stolen some checks from him prior and wrote some checks, ordered some checks that I knew he was going to eventually end up going to the law enforcement. I was hoping I could get to him before he did that, which I was a day late.

    Kelly: So it was a combination both the robbery and trying to keep him quiet about the checks?

    Schroeder: Yeah. I used to work for him and I always knew he kept a fairly decent amount of cash in the safe in his house. It was known to pretty much everybody that he did. It was basically a quick buck.

    Schroeder: I showed up at his house at like 4:30 a.m., knocked on his door, and he came to the door, I confronted him, and I ended up assaulting him with a night stick, which was a 22-inch riot baton. I basically hit him five times in the head, which is literally what killed him, and I drove him south to the farmstead of his and dropped him in a well.

    Kelly: That was to cover up the crime?

    Schroeder: That was an attempt to cover up the crime, yeah; but State Patrol brought in his son and his son took them up to that area, because he knew they'd owned that piece of parcel and seen fresh tire tracks.

    Kelly: Has family visited you?

    Schroeder; I get visits randomly from my wife, because while we're in the hole they're video visits and I hate video visits. To me, they're just a waste of time.

    Kelly: You've been reluctant to talk about family in all of this.

    Schroeder: Well, that's another reason that I went ahead and pled guilty and I didn't drag this out. I've got nothing but time on my hands, so technically I could've just drug this out for two, three years. But I'm not going to drag my family through another trial; let alone one that's got implications of the death penalty. I already did that twice on the first murder trial. The first one ended in a hung jury so we had to have another one, the Albers case. I wasn't going to put my kids, and my wife, and my family through that again.

    Kelly: Has your family said if they're upset about you going ahead and allowing the death penalty?

    Schroeder: No. They're not upset. They understand the way I think and know me. It's one of them things that they know. If I'm going to make a decision, I'm going to make it whether they approve of it or not.

    http://netnebraska.org/article/news/...wont-challenge
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

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