In 10 days, a husband's violence escalated from a brutal assault to murder in public view

HARRISON - Robert Schmidt wasn’t supposed to have a gun.

Not by law. Not by logic.

And yet he had a Glock 9 mm handgun when his wife, Sara, brought their children to his parents' home just outside Appleton, where he was staying by that time. It was a quiet neighborhood of single-family houses, large curated lawns and streets with cheerful names like Sweet Pea, Zinnia and Daffodil. 

It was about 6 p.m. on Jan. 9, a Tuesday, when Sara arrived on Sweet Clover Drive. 

Sara's co-worker, who lived nearby, had seen the red minivan in the driveway and knew that was a bad idea, she told an investigator. But Sara had been talking about not wanting to keep her children from their father.

As far as the co-worker knew, Sara planned to drop off the children in the driveway, and Robert's mother would come out to get them. Then Sara would go grocery shopping.

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Robert’s father saw the light on under the closed door to the bedroom where his son was staying. He assumed Robert was inside. Last time, Robert had gotten really close to the window, straining to see Sara, and his father told him that was probably not a good idea.

This time, before Robert's father knew what was happening, he heard the van’s horn blaring. The children were screaming. His wife was outside confronting their son, who had climbed into the driver’s seat with Sara. Robert’s parents pulled him out of the van and told their daughter-in-law of 15 years to lock the doors.

Then his father saw that Robert had a gun.

“I just want to talk to her,” Robert kept saying.

His mother followed him around the parked van, trying to block him. She begged him to give her the gun. 

His father ran to call 911. Neighbors, too, called police and they called each other to warn that something was happening in the driveway. 

“You’re going to have to kill me before you kill her,” his mother told him, according to police records.

At some point during the chaos, the children's grandparents told them to go inside the house.

With their three young children and their dog within earshot inside the home, Robert, 49, would take Sara's life and then his own.

Sara, 40, died in the van. Robert ran when a sheriff's deputy arrived, then died by suicide in the back yard. Investigators found four fired and three unfired cartridge casings at the scene in the driveway. 

It was the tragic climax of a violent, tumultuous period of weeks in which prosecutors filed felony domestic violence charges against Robert in connection with a vicious assault on Sara.

He was released Jan. 5 from the Calumet County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond. Sara filed for divorce the same day.

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She pulled into her in-laws' driveway four days later.

Investigators believe Robert must have been waiting in the basement for Sara to arrive, the gun tucked in his pocket or waistband, then he slipped out a side door.

10 months, four women dead

The Schmidts' deaths caused an outcry in the Fox Cities, prompting a petition to remove judges' ability to set any bond in cases of felony domestic violence and sexual assault, and focusing vitriol on the Calumet County judge who set the bond that was posted in Robert’s case.

Sara is believed to be one of four women in the past 10 months in Appleton and neighboring communities to have been killed by the men they were with. 

Statewide, 54 people lost their lives to domestic violence last year, including 15 perpetrators, according to preliminary figures compiled by End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin. In 2016, that number was 73.

In the other three Fox Valley cases:

► Johnny Scott, 59, is charged with fatally shooting 48-year-old Annie Ford in September at the Appleton home they shared with her 15-year-old son. 

► On May 1, Jeremy Wallenfang, 36, is believed to have fatally shot Ashley Mielke, 27, set fire to the Clayton home they were in, then shot and killed himself, according to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department. 

► On July 13, Laurie Colon, 37, and her husband Greg Colon, 42, were found dead of gunshot wounds at their home in Kimberly. Laurie’s obituary describes Greg as her “soon to be ex-husband,” and calls her a victim of domestic violence. The Fox Valley Metro Police Department has not released details about how the shooting unfolded or confirmed her obituary's statements.

These deaths weren't isolated incidents of violence, according to local advocates. They were extreme examples of a problem that puts community members in danger but isn't often publicized.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reviewed documents, including criminal and civil court records and investigation reports obtained through a public records request, to piece together what happened leading up to and including that deadly moment in a driveway in Harrison.

The news network took the unusual step of detailing family dynamics in this case because of the concern in the community and because the details help build an understanding of domestic violence in a way that vague generalities do not. However, this report withholds the names of witnesses and other family members involved, including the couple's minor children.

This, according to those documents, is what happened to Sara.

'Shut up, we’re going to talk'

By December 2017, Robert and Sara had been married for more than 15 years and had three children, the youngest 3 years old.

Robert was a stay-at-home dad while Sara worked in marketing at an HVAC company.

In early January she went to the Calumet County Sheriff's Department to report that he had sexually assaulted her, and she told an investigator their marital problems had been building for years.

Police and court records shed light on how Robert's violence toward his wife escalated in a matter of weeks. Sara's arrival at the sheriff's department marked the agency's first contact with the couple, although victim advocates warn that a lack of police reports doesn't mean abuse hadn't happened before.

The documents also show the danger victims can face at the hands of their abusers, a threat that is especially acute when the relationship is coming to an end.

He never trusted her, she said, and she had threatened to file for divorce several times. Then in mid-November, Robert found emails between her and a co-worker that upset him, she said. 

On Dec. 22, Sara had found a device Robert was using to track her car. She told Robert they were done, that they were getting a divorce.

That night, Sara found notes on the kitchen counter that she believed to be suicide letters written by Robert, she later told the investigator. About 4:30 a.m. she found him asleep in the garage inside their van with the engine running and the vehicle’s windows down. She shut off the van, woke Robert and opened the garage door.

He didn't receive any medical or mental health intervention as a result of the apparent suicide attempt, she said.

Then she found out he had bought a gun. The bill of sale showed the Ruger 9 mm handgun was purchased at a local gun shop on Dec. 30 for $299.

On Dec. 31, Robert and Sara had planned to ring in the new year at their friends' home, but they never arrived. 

They dropped off their children, ages 3, 8 and 11, at Robert’s parents’ home just a half-mile south of theirs, and then, as they got ready to go out, he kept asking her if she wanted to talk. No, she said, she didn’t. It might ruin the night.

At that point, he left the bathroom where they had been getting ready. When she walked out he confronted her with a handgun that he pointed at her, according to court records. He pushed her onto the bed, the gun held to her head.

She asked him what he was doing, told him he didn’t have to do this. 

“Shut up, be quiet,” he told her, repeating it.

He tied her to the bed, she told an investigator. She recalled the chemical taste of the blue household rag he stuffed in her mouth before he applied tape. The rag made it hard for her to breathe.

“Shut up,” he said. They were going to talk.

He told her she had better answer his questions honestly. Robert wanted to know about an eight-minute phone call she had with the co-worker on Dec. 20. He held the gun to her head when he was asking her about the call, she said.

The stay-at-home father ranted about everything, including what he had done for the family during their marriage. He said she didn’t appreciate it.

Then, with the rag in her mouth, he raped her. She shut down, she told the investigator.

She estimated she was bound for about two hours and was released only when she indicated she needed to use the bathroom.

Sara thought he might shoot her if she crawled out the bathroom window, so she returned to the bedroom. He broke down, saying he was sorry and that he didn’t mean to hurt her. There were no bullets in the gun, he told her.

When he went to the bathroom, she escaped in her car.

In a Facebook message on New Year's Day, he told her that his brother had offered to buy the gun from him for home security. Robert said his father had the gun stored “somewhere safe” until his brother could buy it in the coming days.

“No need to worry Sara, I have a clear mind and will not do anything dangerous or stupid,” he wrote.

The next day, on Jan. 2, Sara reported the assault.

Sara told the investigator she wanted to make the police report because she no longer felt that she and her children were safe at home.

The gun was for 'intimidation'

Just hours after Sara arrived at the sheriff’s department, investigators went to their Daisy Court home, where they read Robert his Miranda rights and told him he was not allowed to leave.

Robert said he bought the Ruger about a week earlier for protection. He was inquiring about a concealed carry permit.

He had no intention of hurting Sara, he said, but used the gun as an “intimidation thing” because Sara wouldn’t talk to him. He blamed his actions on New Year’s Eve on marital problems that began in mid-November.

Using the gun was a decision he made on the “spur of the moment” he said in acknowledging Sara’s version of events. The attack was not planned, he said, and it was all an “act,” during which he was shaking and sick to his stomach.

He said he bought the GPS tracking device for Sara’s car about a month earlier because he was becoming suspicious of her relationship with a co-worker. He said it was attached to the bottom of the car beneath the driver-side back passenger door.

His brother now had the gun, he told the investigator.

He was ultimately arrested and taken to the Calumet County Jail.

Two days later, he was charged with two felonies.

Robert Schmidt faced 100 years in prison

On Jan. 4, Robert made his first appearance in Calumet County Circuit Court to face charges of first-degree sexual assault and kidnapping, both as domestic abuse.

Together, the charges carried a maximum sentence of 100 years in the state prison system.

Judge Jeffrey Froehlich ordered that he be held on a $10,000 cash bond. If he were to post bond, he wasn’t allowed to have contact with Sara or their Daisy Court home, except through Robert’s parents for purposes of child visitation. He couldn’t have contact with Sara’s workplace. Supervised contact was allowed with their children.

He wasn’t allowed to possess any guns, and his whereabouts were to be monitored with a GPS bracelet.

RELATED:Records: Judge set bond with 'safety' in mind before Harrison murder-suicide

Froehlich called the charges "extremely serious." The judge noted Robert's lack of employment, the potential that his marriage could be ending and the significant penalties he was facing as possible incentives for Robert to flee instead of returning to court, the central purpose of bond.

Froehlich said he was also taking into account Sara's safety and that of the public.

Even so, the judge’s decision would be intensely scrutinized in the coming weeks.

The next day, on Jan. 5, Robert was released from jail on bond and Sara filed for divorce.

‘I assume you have personally fired this gun and that it works perfectly?’

The handgun Robert used in the New Year’s Eve assault was in the custody of the Calumet County Sheriff’s Department. 

His parents, with whom he was staying after his release from jail, told police they did not have a gun at their home.

But on Jan. 7, a 19-year-old from Kaukauna received an email about a white Glock handgun he had recently listed on ArmsList.com. The potential buyer said he was interested, because he was taking a concealed carry class.

“I assume you have personally fired this gun and that it works perfectly?” the buyer asked. “You have it listed for $575, would you take $500 cash?”

The seller responded, “correct but I will take no less than 550.”

They agreed to meet in the parking lot of the Calumet Street Walmart about 7 p.m. on Jan. 8.

Before he arrived, GPS records indicate Robert sold more than $800 worth of silver at a Kimberly store, then went to a 3 p.m. counseling session.

The seller later told police that a quiet man who looked like a dad bought the gun for $550. The buyer said he wanted the gun for protection.

The transaction at Walmart took about 17 minutes, according to GPS records. 

At 5:24 a.m. on Jan. 9, Robert reached out to the seller again. What kind of ammunition is best for this gun, he wanted to know.

“There are so many to choose from and it would be helpful to know which brand you preferred,” he wrote. “I’m sure my Ruger would use different ammo than the Glock. Thanks!”

That day, Robert waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Calumet County court.

In the afternoon, GPS records indicate Robert returned to Walmart, investigators believe possibly to get ammunition.

A loud fight in a quiet neighborhood, and then gunshots

It was around dinnertime on Jan. 9 when Sara pulled the van with their three children into the driveway of her in-laws' home in Harrison, a village of about 11,500 people along the northeast shore of Lake Winnebago.

In the surrounding homes, a man had been taking out the garbage after his family finished dinner. A father had been wrestling with his son. A girl was getting into a carpool van headed to after-school activities.

Then the neighbors heard arguing, gunshots and screams.

Neighbors told investigators that they saw children in the driveway for at least part of the attack.

The man taking out his garbage reported seeing a man and woman, later identified as Robert and his mother, arguing in the driveway near a minivan. It was so heated he called 911. A dispatcher told him they were already aware of it.

“You ruined my life!” a neighbor said he heard Robert yelling toward the van.

Robert's mother followed him around the vehicle, trying to stop him.

Robert was circling the van, and ended up near the driver side door. Then the man taking out his garbage heard a gunshot and the argument continued. He dialed 911 again. Another short conversation with dispatch. Then, he recalled, there were more shots.

He heard a sheriff’s deputy yell to drop the weapon just before Robert ran north between the houses. Robert died by suicide as a deputy closed in.

“I can’t get her to respond to me,” a neighbor said she heard Robert’s mother say.

Their children eventually found themselves in their grandparents' bathroom but not before the two older siblings saw their father push their mother out of the van's driver’s seat and into the passenger seat as he got into the vehicle.

Their son thought their mom had put the car in neutral because he heard the motor revving.

He heard his grandfather say Robert had a gun and call 911.

From inside the house, the boy heard gunshots. So did his 8-year-old sister. 

Gravity of assault didn't seem to register with Robert

After Robert got out of jail, before the night of Jan. 9, he seemed to feel that the world was against him, his father told investigators.

Robert was upset with Sara, and it appeared that the seriousness of what he had done in assaulting his wife didn’t register with him. His father believed the charges filed against Robert and the days in jail had changed things. 

On a computer desk inside the residence an investigator found job listings printed out along with Robert’s resume. Among what appeared to be his things they found the packaging for a GPS tracking device that matched the description of the one found earlier on Sara’s vehicle. There was the original receipt for the Ruger.

Next to Robert’s bed, investigators found letters and drawings from the children. 

Domestic violence resources in your area

If you or someone you know is or might be in an abusive relationship, local resources can be found at the End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin resource map: http://www.endabusewi.org/gethelp/ 

Harbor House Domestic Abuse Programs 24-hour crisis helpline: 920-832-1666

Warning signs of domestic abuse

Examples of abusive tendencies from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: 

• Telling victims that they can never do anything right.
• Accusing the victim of cheating.
• Embarrassing or shaming the victim with put-downs.
• Controlling every penny spent in the household.
• Controlling who the victim sees, where they go, or what they do.
• Dictating how victims dress or wear their hair.
• Stalking victims or monitoring their every move in person, via the internet and/or other devices such as GPS tracking or the victim’s phone.
• Telling victims that they are bad parents or threatening to hurt, kill or take away their children.
• Threatening to hurt or kill the victim’s friends, loved ones, or pets.
• Intimidating the victim with guns, knives, or other weapons.
• Refusing to use protection when having sex or sabotaging birth control.
• Pressuring or forcing the victim to use drugs or alcohol.
• Preventing the victim from working or attending school, harassing the victim at either, keeping their victim up all night so they perform badly at their job or in school.
• Destroying the victim’s property.