Inset left: Jacob John Audie (Dakota County Sheriff’s Office). Inset right: Michael Maurice Schille (Epilogg). Background: The apartment complex where authorities say the killing took place (KARE/YouTube).
A man in Minnesota will not see the outside of prison walls after fatally shooting his roommate — a man for whom he was supposed to be caring — in the face with the victim’s own rifle.
Jacob John Audie, 37, was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced.
His sentencing came after he was found guilty last week of premeditated first-degree murder and intentional second-degree murder in the death of 72-year-old Michael Maurice Schille.
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On April 11, 2025, Audie and Schille were in their apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota. They had lived together for at least a year, and Audie “helped care for” Schille and “clean the apartment,” according to a statement of probable cause.
As Schille sat on a couch in his bedroom with a television remote in his hand, his roommate shot him “in the left cheek area” with the victim’s own AR-15 rifle, Audie later told police.
“Audie then unloaded the magazine and put it on the table and took a round out of the chamber and placed it by the couch,” the court document added. He called 911 “and told them what he did.”
The since-convicted defendant “stated his friend was dead and the gun was on the couch,” authorities recalled.
At about 8:50 p.m. that night, officers with the South Saint Paul Police Department responded to the home. They found Audie standing in the parking lot near the west side of the building with his phone in his hand. He was arrested.
Upon entering the apartment, officers found a rifle magazine on the kitchen table, a rifle in the living room “leaning against the couch with a live round lying next to it,” and Schille “with a gunshot wound to the left side of his face.”
Schille still had the TV remote in his hand. Medics pronounced him dead.
According to regional NBC affiliate KARE, recently filed court documents said a four-page handwritten letter was also found on a table in the home, and Audie apparently told investigators that he had written the letter titled “Michael’s forgiveness.”
The killer had reportedly talked with Schille days before about ending the older man’s life, but the soon-to-be victim said he wasn’t ready. Audie later admitted that he shot his roommate “with the intent to end life/suffering.”
“I made sure it was quick and painless as possible but that doesn’t matter, what matters is I accept and always will take responsibility for my actions,” he wrote, the TV station reported.
Schille was a veteran and struggled with health problems, his daughters told KARE.
An obituary for the victim said he “lost his life at the hands of someone he trusted.” Schille left behind two daughters and two granddaughters, and he “loved being on the water and camping and could not wait to get a ride in on his Harley.”
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