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News
Father, son deaths ruled homicide, murder : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisFather, son deaths ruled homicide, murder
| Evidence heard in Yorkville incident
| by Matt Schury
| 12/20/2012
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A Kendall County Coroner's jury last week ruled a Yorkville man's death a suicide and his four-year old son's death a homicide.
The jury also ruled the cause of death in both cases to be the result of carbon monoxide intoxication. The jury findings concurred with the autopsy report.
Joseph R. Schmitt, 35, and his son, Wyland, 4, were found dead in the garage of a home in the 300 block of Bertram Drive in Yorkville at about 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24. A Yorkville police officer who was asked to do a well-being check discovered the bodies.
County Coroner Ken Toftoy reported that both bodies had high amounts of carbon monoxide. The toxicology reports indicated Schmitt had 41 mega grams per milliliter of carbon monoxide in his system while Wyland had 30 mega grams per milliliter of carbon monoxide in his system. Toftoy indicated that this was more than six times the normal amount of carbon monoxide contained in a healthy, non-smoker's body.
Yorkville Detective Stacey Mott testified during the inquest last week that Schmitt's wife, Kyle Weber, asked Officer Don Gardner to check the home because no one had heard from Schmitt in 24 hours.
Mott said when officers were called to the scene at 3:20 p.m. they did not at first think anyone was home as no one responded.
Gardner called Weber back and told her that no one was answering the door, so Weber gave him the code to open the garage door to the home. When the overhead door was opened, large amounts of exhaust came pouring out, along with heat and an exhaust smell, according to Mott. Gardener discovered Schmitt lying on the floor and Wyland slumped in a chair in his pajamas.
They appeared to be dead and were a "cherry red" color in the face. There was no movement so the officer called paramedics for back up, Mott told the jury.
The vehicle was not running, but the ignition key was in the "on" position. Mott said the car had been running so long that the entire house filled up with exhaust and there was a smell throughout the house.
The home was filled with so much exhaust, Mott related, that police had to check each room one at a time to clear the air in the home. Two cats were found in the home, one dead and another that survived.
Mott read from a note that Schmitt left at the home that blamed his wife for causing their divorce.
"I gave everything to this marriage," Mott read from the note.
Mott said Weber told her that she had no indication this would happen and that the divorce was as amicable as a divorce could be.
After the note was read Toftoy asked Mott how Schmidt was able to keep his son in the garage. She responded that there was no indication that Wyland had been restrained.
Mott continued that the boy was young enough that he may have just stayed there because his father told him it was a game or something.
Another theory, she explained, was that Schmitt took his sleeping son from his bed to the garage and placed him in the chair.
The toxicology report does not indicate any drugs in Schmidt's system, only a small amount of alcohol that may have been from "a few beers," Toftoy said. Wyland's toxicology report did not show any drugs or alcohol in his system.
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