IA - Tyler, Sarah, and Lula Schmidt Killed at Maquoketa Caves State Park Campsite, 2022 *killer dead*

[PacoElFlaco]

RSBM

'Just wanted to say that I can see this as a definite possibility... overly enmeshed with large doses of coddling. I also agree it's likely she is in shock and denial.

We read about so many cases here on WS... lack of parenting, controlling parents, religious/strict parenting, delusional parents.... all with sad outcomes.

Maybe we will (eventually) learn more about AOS and his mindset/behaviors which could help to understand this un-explainable brutal loss of such an innocent family and leaving a sweet 9 yr old an orphan.

I'm extremely puzzled that not one acquaintance of AOS has made any statement of any kind. Not one friend or former classmate or neighbor or even a store clerk who knew him ever came forth. No other photos except the State ID. Did this guy live in a protective bubble created by his parents to shield him from the world?

 

[fred&edna]

I'm extremely puzzled that not one acquaintance of AOS has made any statement of any kind. Not one friend or former classmate or neighbor or even a store clerk who knew him ever came forth. No other photos except the State ID. Did this guy live in a protective bubble created by his parents to shield him from the world?

ITA... I'm totally puzzled too! It's as if he was a ghost himself... so very weird. (A ghost with a ghost gun)

 

[PacoElFlaco]

ITA... I'm totally puzzled too! It's as if he was a ghost himself... so very weird. (A ghost with a ghost gun)

This case is so bizarre and mysterious, and so little info has been released, that it has the potential to become one of those "cult crimes" that people discuss and hypothesize about for years.

 

[RickshawFan]

That's what I'm wondering. Seriously doubt they are bothering campsites in this park. Probably as rare as mass murderers in Iowa campgrounds. CS believes any deflection will work! MOO

Black bear spotting in Decorah's Trout Run Park

DECORAH, Iowa (KWWL) - According to a post from the Decorah Police Department's Facebook page, reports were made of a black bear sighting.

www.google.com

Article says multiple sightings in Dubuque recently, too.

From 2009:

Rural Maquoketa couple spots black bear in field

OTTER CREEK, Iowa — Jim and Sue Mayberry of rural Maquoketa were on their way to dinner in Bellevue when they saw a black bear run across a nearby field.

qctimes.com

LOL Look how long ago those bear sightings were!

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm extremely puzzled that not one acquaintance of AOS has made any statement of any kind. Not one friend or former classmate or neighbor or even a store clerk who knew him ever came forth. No other photos except the State ID. Did this guy live in a protective bubble created by his parents to shield him from the world?

Maybe to shield the world from him?

 

[RickshawFan]

I wonder too. I thought I had read or maybe assumed from a quote in an early article that this wasn’t their only stop on the trip, but can’t find a source for that now. If that were the case, the “gun for bears” comment would make *a little* more sense, like if one of their stops on the trip was a more bear-populated area. All my speculation of course.

ETA- I found the source and it was a Des Moines Register article posted relatively early on in the investigation, about a week ago, mainly focused on the news that AS used a ghost gun. Parts of the article were quoted earlier on and his mother stated “He was working on math problems all summer prior to our vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan…” I suppose she could be referring to another trip but the context made it sound (to me) as if it was all part of the same.

Algebra 1? Mom overestimates her son' abilities, I would guess.
I wonder if she actually saw him working on the math problems?

 

[RickshawFan]

I'm wondering if AOS thought at first he might get away with this. Perhaps he thought his use of an unregistered, untraceable Ghost Gun meant he could kill the Schmidts in that early-morning hour, then get back to his own tent before anyone was aware of it and LEOs could not trace the crime to him. However, when he noticed Arlo had escaped and when he had to use physical hand-to-hand violence against the Schmidts as well, he realized he would be easily identified and then ran off into the woods to kill himself.

Maybe the shots were last, not first. Perhaps AOS even went back to his folks' vehicle to get the gun AFTER he had almost killed the three victims.

 

[fred&edna]

Maybe to shield the world from him?

But why would they think it was okay for him to build a gun and take it on a camping trip? 'Seems the only one they "shielded" was their genius.

 

[PacoElFlaco]

Maybe the shots were last, not first. Perhaps AOS even went back to his folks' vehicle to get the gun AFTER he had almost killed the three victims.

Yes that's possible. Also, I think the fact he used his bare hands to kill the little girl indicates she was his primary target. Strangulation is probably the most personal method of murder.

The only problem with AOS making a return trip for the gun is that Arlo escaped soon after AOS attacked and he ran straight to the Sherwin's campsite for help. Not sure how that would fit with AOS going back for his gun.

 

[realanastasia]

Maybe the shots were last, not first. Perhaps AOS even went back to his folks' vehicle to get the gun AFTER he had almost killed the three victims.

IMO, the only gun we can reasonably assume was kept in the car, per Cecelia Sherwin’s statements, was the non-homemade one. If I recall correctly, CS said the family brought “a gun” with them to Maquoketa, but that it was kept in a secure container in the vehicle.

If she had referred to “guns,” plural, I would agree that perhaps AS needed to return to the vehicle at some point before or during the attack. But I suspect that AS brought along his janky homemade firearm unbeknownst to his mother, and kept it concealed from the parents in his own tent (remember, early news reports said the parents and son slept in separate tents on the same campsite). If I am wrong and there are MSM stories indicating that CS knew AS had brought the ghost gun along and/or that she indicated it was kept in the secure container in the vehicle, let me know and I will edit this!

 

[Knitty]

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[RickshawFan]

Yes that's possible. Also, I think the fact he used his bare hands to kill the little girl indicates she was his primary target. Strangulation is probably the most personal method of murder.

The only problem with AOS making a return trip for the gun is that Arlo escaped soon after AOS attacked and he ran straight to the Sherwin's campsite for help. Not sure how that would fit with AOS going back for his gun.

I'm thinking Arlo escaped while AOS was going to get the gun. Perhaps the tent had "rooms", and AOS didn't see him. Or, he might have been in a sleeping bag?

 

[realanastasia]

The official Iowa DPS statement makes no reference to stabbing/stab wounds, only “sharp force injuries:”

UPDATE: Autopsies Completed In Maquoketa Caves State Park Triple Homicide

August 4, 2022 ANKENY, Iowa – On July 22, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Division of Criminal Investigatio

dps.iowa.gov

“Tyler Schmidt, age 42, died from a gunshot wound and multiple sharp force injuries. Sarah Schmidt, age 42, died from multiple sharp force injuries. Lula Schmidt, age 6, died from a gunshot wound and strangulation. All three family members’ deaths have been ruled homicides.

Anthony Sherwin, age 23, of LaVista, Nebraska, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death has been ruled a suicide.

The investigation into the events surrounding the homicides is ongoing. However, the known facts and circumstances, and all evidence collected to this point, substantiate Sherwin was the perpetrator of the homicides and acted alone.”

 

[realanastasia]

Camping family was shot, stabbed and strangled while camping in Iowa

A child survived with no physical injuries.

www.wftv.com

Bolded by me to highlight points of interest:

“Sherwin’s parents told the newspaper that their son built his own firearm because they didn’t want him to buy one, but said that building one made sense because of increasing crime in Nebraska.

“He only had an interest in guns for a few months before he grew tired of it. By the time we took our trip he told us he was going to get rid of them. We were relieved as we never owned a gun of any kind before this year. We only had one in the car on the trip. He didn’t have a fascination as much as it was a challenge to build it,” Sherwin’s mother, Cecilia Sherwin told the newspaper in an email.

“He did not want to bring the gun on the trip but we thought it would be OK considering crime and bears,” she told the paper. She said a bear did come into their camp at least once during their trip.”

CS claims that the family only bought guns starting in 2022 and only brought one on the trip. Stands to reason that the one gun they brought would be a mass-manufactured one they knew would work, and not the one a novice armorer like AS cobbled together, IMO.

 

[fred&edna]

Another thing I'm curious about... after AOS made his ghost gun, where did he practice shooting it? I can't imagine these types of weapons would be allowed at a shooting range... so, did he just travel to some remote wilderness area to practice??

 

[RickshawFan]

The official Iowa DPS statement makes no reference to stabbing/stab wounds, only “sharp force injuries:”

UPDATE: Autopsies Completed In Maquoketa Caves State Park Triple Homicide

August 4, 2022 ANKENY, Iowa – On July 22, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Division of Criminal Investigatio

dps.iowa.gov

“Tyler Schmidt, age 42, died from a gunshot wound and multiple sharp force injuries. Sarah Schmidt, age 42, died from multiple sharp force injuries. Lula Schmidt, age 6, died from a gunshot wound and strangulation. All three family members’ deaths have been ruled homicides.

Anthony Sherwin, age 23, of LaVista, Nebraska, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death has been ruled a suicide.

The investigation into the events surrounding the homicides is ongoing. However, the known facts and circumstances, and all evidence collected to this point, substantiate Sherwin was the perpetrator of the homicides and acted alone.”

I think he strangled Lula, slashed at the parents with a blade of some sort that was ready at hand (maybe he grabbed it from beside the fire pit), and then went back to his site for the gun to make sure they were all dead.

AOS has to have ended up with the gun, since he killed himself with it. It would be awfully difficult to wield a blade and a gun at the same time, so I don't believe the two types of wounds were in the same moment. I think the general practice is to use a gun to make sure someone is dead, and not a blade. Sarah wasn't shot, either, evidently, so she must have been dead before the shooting?

 

[vls12345]

Why couldn't he have been carrying the gun with him (in a pocket, in his waistband, in a holster, in a bag or backpack), even if he started first with some other instrument of attack? Maybe he started with whatever caused the sharp force injuries, then pulled out his gun and finished the attack? (The gun at the end makes sense to me because the noise may alert others.)

MOO.

 

[Kemug]

So the parents did not want AS to buy a gun, but thought it would be ok and make sense if he built one? They were relieved that he was going to get rid of the gun/guns he built? But - AS did not want to bring his gun on the camping trip, but the parents thought it would be ok? Geez, logic is not the parents' strong suit, is it?

 

[Kemug]

Why did he target the Schmidts? Was there a previous interaction? Was it something to do with computers? Was it because they had a little girl? Or was it just that their tent was the closest? We know it was close, but was it actually the closest? AS is no longer alive to tell us, and I can't imagine that his parents will be much help. So maybe it's up to us to work it out.

 

[Kemug]

I do know one thing, which is that I am never going camping again.