Inset left: Jacob John Audie (Dakota County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Michael Maurice Schille (Epilogg). Background: The apartment complex where Jacob John Audie allegedly killed Michael Maurice Schille (KARE/YouTube).
A man is accused of killing his older roommate — who he was supposed to be taking care of — using the victim’s own rifle, authorities in Minnesota said.
Jacob John Audie, 36, has been indicted by a Dakota County grand jury on first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder in connection with the death of Michael Maurice Schille, 72, Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced. He was originally charged with only second-degree murder in April when Schille was found dead.
It was April 11 at about 8:50 p.m. when the South St. Paul Police Department got a call from a man saying he had shot his roommate in their apartment. It was Audie, according to the law enforcement agency, and the suspect reportedly had no problem elaborating upon what he had done.
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When police responded to the home, they found Schille on a couch in his bedroom “with a gunshot wound on the left side of his face,” and with “a television remote in his hand,” per a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime. He was pronounced dead by responding medics.
Officers also said they found a magazine from the AR-style rifle on a nearby table, the rifle in the living room, and a single bullet on the couch. Audie later confirmed he had taken these actions and then called 911 “and told them what he did.”
The suspect was detained in the apartment building’s parking lot, the South St. Paul Police Department added in its news release. “During the investigation, Audie told officers he was the victim’s caretaker and they lived together for the past year or two. He said he shot Schille using the victim’s rifle.”
Schille’s family was left shocked by his death, with one of his daughters sharing that while he suffered from health problems and thus had a caregiver, “there was no tension” in the days leading up to his death.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Jessica Comer said, per Twin Cities NBC affiliate KARE. Authorities have not released what they believe Audie’s motive was.
Comer said her dad was a veteran, and an obituary for the man said he “was a master at finding the silver lining in any situation and had an utterly contagious laugh.”
“Michael lost his life at the hands of someone he trusted,” the obit added.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and determined that Schille’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the face and the manner of death was a homicide.
If he is convicted of the premeditated first-degree charge, Audie faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. His next court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
