By Shereen Siewert
A Wausau father accused of supplying a fatal dose of drugs to his son and girlfriend has reached a plea agreement on homicide charges, weeks after he was found unresponsive in his home and brought to jail on bail jumping charges.
Roderick H. Schultz, of Wausau, was formally charged July 6, 2021 in Marathon County Circuit Court with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide by delivery of drugs after an investigation into to overdoses hours apart last year.
Police say the first alleged victim, Schultz’s girlfriend, was found dead shortly after 7 a.m. on March 13, 2021 at a home on Lazy Branch Drive. A heroin overdose was immediately suspected. Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Barnett told a judge the woman was hospitalized just two weeks earlier for a near-fatal overdose in Superior and had previously undergone addiction treatment.
Hours later police were called again to a Wausau apartment for a second death, again a suspected fatal heroin overdose. This time, they found Schultz’s son in the 200 block of Lavinia Drive with a needle and cooker near his body.
Schultz, traced through phone records, allegedly admitted his son had overdosed about five times previously but initially denied being at either victim’s house. His story allegedly changed several times. ADA Barnett said police found a fentanyl kit, a cooker and other paraphernalia next to Schultz’s bed and took him into custody.
Schultz was freed after posting a $20,000 cash bond, court records show. But while out on bond, police say Schultz overdosed himself and was found unresponsive at his mother’s home on Sept. 2.
Arrested again Sept. 2
According to the police report, Schultz’s mother said her son may have overdosed and his lips were turning blue. Lifesaving efforts were successful after paramedics administered Narcan, but no drugs were found next to Schultz during the initial investigation. His mother then told police she wondered if he was diabetic, court records state, and claimed her son had a history of seizures.
Schultz allegedly claimed the puncture wound found on his arm was from “working on a truck,” court records state. His mother allegedly refused to allow police to search Schultz’s bedroom on the grounds that it was her home.
Police obtained a warrant to draw Schultz’s blood at the hospital for a chemical test. He was eventually taken to the Marathon County Jail on bail jumping charges, which were filed Sept. 6. He was released after posting a $3,000 cash bond, court records show.
Past history
Court records show Schultz was connected to a 2017 near-fatal overdose that resulted in a felony drug conviction, according to court documents. Schultz was one of three people arrested in March 2017 after a 36-year-old man overdosed and nearly died, one of three such overdoses within a span of a few days. Treg Leder, then 27, was also arrested in connection with the 2017 case.
Schultz, now 55, was ultimately convicted of maintaining a drug trafficking place and in 2018 was given a withheld sentence and ordered to spend three years on probation, which ended on Feb. 4, 2021 – just six weeks before his girlfriend and son died.
Details of the plea agreement are not public. A plea hearing is set for Nov. 28 for Schultz, who is not in custody.
