“Greenfield Child Death” cold case; The opening statements begin

GREENFIELD, Wis – Opening arguments begin Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the trial of Ronald Schroeder in the 1991 death of his seven-week-old daughter Catherine Schroeder. The state is also expected to call its first witnesses. Jury selection will be completed on Monday.

55-year-old Ronald Schroeder is a convicted sex offender who once performed as “Silly the Clown.”

He was long on the very short list of suspects after Catherine died on August 25, 1991 from what doctors determined was “shaken baby syndrome.”

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines and breaking news emails from FOX6 News

A lot can change over the course of 30 years, but the Briarwick Apartments near 92nd Street and Howard in Greenfield cannot.

Around midnight on August 25, 1991, Schroeder, then 22, called 911 to report that his daughter was not breathing. Seventeen hours later, Catherine was pronounced dead. According to court documents, the events of that night fit a pattern of abuse by Schroeder against several different women and young children.

The Milwaukee County coroner reviewed the autopsy in June 2021 and determined that Catherine died of blunt force trauma to the head, ruling her death a homicide. Her father was charged the following August.

Schroeder was charged with first-degree manslaughter 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 one count of assault in Waukesha County. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for life and was sent to prison.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android

As his latest trial begins, some of the witnesses have now died. In order not to disadvantage the jury, the court excluded any mention of his previous work as a clown.

The trial is scheduled to begin next week.