Catherine Schroeder was pronounced dead the following day at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, 30 years to the day after Catherine’s death, Schroeder, 51, of Milwaukee, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide and two counts of child abuse causing great harm.
Schroeder, a registered sex offender, has always been a suspect in the infant’s death.
None of the allegations led to charges, though authorities reopened the case of Catherine’s death in 1998.
Cold case: Ronald Schroeder is pictured in a photo from Wisconsin’s Sex Offender Registry.
It was not clear what new evidence, if any, prompted authorities to take another look at Catherine’s death.
“Based on the injuries observed at autopsy, which included subdural hemorrhaging, subarachnoid hemorrhaging, cerebral cortical contusion hemorrhages, retinal hemorrhages, optic nerve sheath hemorrhages and fractures to right ribs 2-5, Dr.
Fox 6 News reported that Schroeder, then 22, called 911 just after midnight Aug.
Milwaukee magazine reported that Schroeder’s wife, Christine Schroeder, knew something was wrong with the baby during the day Aug.
The worried mother would later tell authorities that she lived in fear of her husband, who she said ruled their home with his fists.
Schroeder’s “Silly the Clown” persona was well-liked by his young audiences, as well as his fellow performers.
Despite the abuse, Ron and Christine Schroeder married in May 1991, when 22-year-old Christine was seven months pregnant.
Sometime after 11 p.m., as Ron Schroeder tried to feed the girl, she stopped breathing.
“There is ample evidence that Catherine not only died of physical abuse, but was battered on at least one, likely multiple, occasions,” wrote Dr.
Three years later, Christine Schroeder gave birth to the couple’s second daughter.
Ron Schroeder was next accused of abuse by a live-in girlfriend, who gave birth to his son in 1997, the magazine reported.
Schroeder would go on to have two more daughters with his second wife, Nichole, who he married in 2002.
According to Milwaukee’s 2008 story, the baby was choking on her own blood when first responders arrived at the Schroeder home.
The girl and her sister were removed from the Schroeder home and placed with Nichole Schroeder’s parents.