Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘Time Bomb’ of Netflix’s ‘I Am a Killer’ delves deep into the horrific murder of Mary Ann Schmitz in June 1999, just a couple of months into her marriage with Leroy Schmitz. Given his claims of innocence, the police found enough evidence against the husband, including his involvement in the murder of his former girlfriend, Barbara Seed, about a decade prior. In the documentary, the convict gives an in-depth interview about himself and blames the origin of his criminal instincts on his alleged rough childhood.
Leroy Schmitz Was Involved in the Similar Murders of His Former Girlfriend and Wife
Born in 1958, Leroy James Schmitz was the eldest among the four Native American children who were adopted by the Schmitz family. Raised in Plentywood, Montana, he had a fairly close-knit bond with his adoptive siblings, especially Gerald Schmitz. However, according to Leroy, he and his adoptive brothers had to deal with a rather abusive adoptive father who used to allegedly beat him from the age of five until he was in his early teens. In 1977, at the age of 19, he left the house he grew up in and often remained homeless. While living on the streets, he gradually fell into the cycle of drugs and crime, resulting in him getting incarcerated multiple times.
In 1986, Leroy was in a relationship with a 43-year-old nurse named Barbara Seed. In a matter of a few months, he moved into her house and began living with her. On October 5, 1986, he reportedly strangled his girlfriend to death at their Acushnet Avenue apartment in New Bedford and even asked for help from a couple of counselors at the New Bedford Mental Health Crisis Center. For this horrific crime, he pleaded guilty, and on September 23, 1987, he was sentenced to 18-20 years in state prison for manslaughter. However, after displaying good behavior and collecting credit for time served, Leroy was released from prison on parole in April 1997, less than a decade after his sentencing.
Aged 39, he decided to head back to his hometown in Montana that same year. In November, he crossed paths with a 39-year-old woman named Mary Ann Lund. Not long after, they began seeing each other. After a year of dating, they moved in together in December 1998. A few months later, the couple took the next step in their relationship and tied the knot on April 4, 1999, in front of their loved ones. Everything seemed to be going fine in their relationship until the fateful early hours of June 18, 1999, when they got into a heated argument at a public bar. Around 2 am, Leroy killed his wife with a karate chop to the neck and asked for help from a passing motorist in Whitefish, Montana.
Leroy Schmitz Still Claims That Mary Ann’s Murder Was Unintentional
When the police were finally called to the scene of the crime, they found Leroy Schmitz performing chest compressions on his wife, trying to resuscitate her desperately. While Mary was rushed to the hospital immediately, the detectives questioned the killer. He claimed that he got involved in an argument with his wife, who hit him in the head with a bottle. As a reflex, he then struck her in the throat with his right hand. She was announced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Despite him claiming that the murder was unintentional, he was arrested and held on a $1 million bail.
Before his impending trial, the prosecution claimed that there were glaring similarities between the Barbara Seed murder and the Mary Ann Schmitz murder, enough to be used as evidence during the trial. However, instead of going to trial, on May 15, 2000, the killer took a guilty plea and admitted to murdering his wife, Mary Ann Schmitz, on June 18, 1999. About a month later, on June 22, 2000, Leroy James Schmitz was finally brought to justice as he was sentenced to 100 years in prison for the brutal killing. As of today, he is incarcerated in the Montana State Prison at 400 Conley Lake Road in Deer Lodge, Montana. Having spent nearly 25 years behind bars, Leroy is reportedly up for parole in 2025.
