Charges upgraded in fatal shooting

Charges against a 74-year-old Libby man arrested earlier this month after a fatal shooting at his residence have been upgraded from negligent homicide to deliberate homicide.

Henry Carl Schroeder is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, March 2, on the new charge, along with a charge of tampering with evidence. He is accused of killing Thomas Veloz, 38, following a confrontation that appears to have been sparked by romantic jealousy.

Law enforcement officers responded to Schroeder’s home on Washington Avenue on the afternoon of Feb. 1 after receiving a call from Schroeder’s friend Donald “Butch” Brittain. Brittain reported that Schroeder had shot and killed a man at his residence the previous evening.

According to an affidavit filed by Libby police officer Darren Short, Schroeder was contacted by phone and walked outside, where he was taken into custody. When the officers went inside, they found Veloz’s body on the floor, covered by a blanket. He appeared to have been shot at least five times, Short reported.

Brittain told Short he had been at Schroeder’s home the previous afternoon, and Veloz’s girlfriend, Kimberlee Patterson, had been there. Brittain said Patterson and Veloz had not been getting along.

Brittain said that after leaving Schroeder’s home he had picked up Veloz around 7 p.m. and they had gone to a bar in Libby for drinks. He said Veloz had received a message on his phone from Schroeder saying, “Your woman is over here, and she’s OK.”

Brittain said he went back to Schroeder’s house around 8:30 p.m. to check on him, and Patterson came to the door but wouldn’t let him inside. He said he saw Schroeder through a crack in the door and described his face as “pale white.”

Brittain told Short he went back to Schroeder’s home the following day around 11 a.m. and went inside through the back door. He said Schroeder told him Veloz had come to his house the night before and threatened him and Patterson, and he had “shot him dead.” Brittain also said Patterson told him she and Schroeder had “made love and slept together” after the shooting, Short reported.

Short interviewed Schroeder, who told him that he had been out with Brittain the previous day and had returned home to find Patterson there. He told Short Patterson had asked to stay awhile because Veloz was “on the warpath.”

Schroeder told Short that Veloz had come to his house that evening and barged in, saying, “I’m gonna kill you for messing with my girlfriend.” He said Veloz cursed at Patterson and grabbed her by the arm, telling her to get in the car.

Schroeder said he went to his bedroom and retrieved a .380-caliber pistol, and when Veloz came to the bedroom door he had emptied the gun at him from a distance of about 6 feet. Patterson was still in the kitchen at the time, Schroeder told Short.

Short reported that he asked Schroeder why he hadn’t called 911, and Schroeder told him that it was because he was upset and Patterson was “hysterical.” Schroeder confirmed that Brittain had come to his house after the shooting, but he denied that he had ever been intimate with Patterson before or after the shooting.

According to Short’s affidavit, only two empty shell casings were found at the scene, despite the multiple bullet wounds in Veloz’s body and Schroeder’s admission that he had emptied the gun. In a followup interview, Schroeder said he had thrown the other shell casings in the trash, Short reported.

Short wrote that Schroeder also admitted that he had shot Veloz several times from the bedroom, then walked up and shot him “a couple more times” after he fell. Schroeder told Short he was afraid of Veloz because he had threatened to kill him and Patterson.

Schroeder faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of deliberate homicide, compared to a maximum of 20 years for negligent homicide. The evidence tampering charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Patterson, 43, was also arrested on charges of evidence tampering.