An Iowa father confessed to planning the murder of his five-year-old son for a week before strangling him.
Matthew Schleier, 45, is charged with first-degree murder and is being held on $1 million cash-only bail.
Police were called early Tuesday to a home where they found the five-year-old boy, identified as ‘JS,’ unconscious.
The paramedics who were at the scene asked the boy’s mother how she had discovered him and she said: “his dad strangled him.” Officers questioned Schleier, who confirmed the statement.
Paramedics attempted to resuscitate the child before taking him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Medical staff noticed bruising on the child’s neck, consistent with strangulation.
In an interview with investigators, Schleier allegedly admitted to the murder without showing emotion, saying that he had stayed up most of the night deciding how to proceed and that he had considered using knives. He also revealed that he had been contemplating the act for the past week.
Iowa father Matthew Schleier confessed to planning the murder of his 5-year-old son for a week before strangling him, police say.
Paramedics at the scene asked the boy’s mother how she discovered him and she reportedly said, “his father strangled him.”
While executing a search warrant, investigators found evidence, including knives, that suggested Schleier had premeditated the murder.
In another tragic case, Patrick Clancy, father of three children allegedly strangled by their mother, recently paid tribute to his children after completing the Boston Marathon. Clancy ran the marathon to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital, which had treated his children, and spoke emotionally of his lost children, saying, “They had short lives, but they had good lives.”
Patrick’s wife, Lindsay Clancy, who suffered from severe postpartum psychosis, allegedly killed their three children: Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, a baby, in January 2023.
Police were called early Tuesday morning to a home where they found a 5-year-old boy, identified as ‘JS,’ unconscious.
After the incident, he attempted suicide, which left him paralyzed and remains under psychiatric care, facing three counts of murder.
Patrick expressed his forgiveness toward Lindsay, citing her mental health issues, and has raised more than $75,000 for the hospital.
“In the short time we were here, my children brought me so much joy and couldn’t have made their father more proud,” she wrote on her donation page, dedicating her marathon to them.
In October, a judge ordered Lindsay to remain under psychiatric care for six months, following a report that she was struggling with severe depression and risk of self-harm.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
