A man once known as "Silly the Clown" was charged Wednesday with killing his infant daughter in 1991.
Ronald Schroeder was charged in Milwaukee County with first-degree reckless homicide and physical abuse of a child.
Catherine Schroeder died on Aug. 25, 1991. She wasn't even 2 months old.
When she was admitted to the hospital, the attending doctor believed she was the victim of shaken baby syndrome, the criminal complaint says.
The doctor who later pronounced her dead indicated Catherine's cause of death was trauma to the brain.
The next day, the assistant medical examiner concluded that Catherine died as a result of shaken baby syndrome and also suffered from battered child syndrome.
In July 1991, a child protection agent was assigned to investigate previous child abuse concerns involving Catherine, according to the criminal complaint.
Ronald Schroeder was also suspected of abusing two other children in 1997 and 2005, the complaint says.
On June 30, 2021, Dr. Brian Peterson, the chief medical examiner for Milwaukee County, conducted a review of the autopsy conducted on Catherine's body.
"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. Peterson concluded that Catherine Schroeder died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and ruled the manner of death was homicide," the criminal complaint says.
Ronald Schroeder was also charged in Waukesha County on Wednesday with three counts of child abuse.
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