Benjamin Schreiber (criminal)

Benjamin Schreiber
Born
Benjamin Edward Schreiber

1952 or 1953
Died (aged 70)
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Known forClaim that his sentence ended after he was resuscitated
Criminal statusDead
Conviction(s)First-degree murder
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment
Details
VictimsJohn Dale Terry
DateJuly 27, 1996
Location(s)Agency, Iowa
WeaponsAxe handle
Date apprehended
July 30, 1996
Imprisoned atIowa State Penitentiary

Benjamin Edward Schreiber (1952 or 1953 – April 7, 2023) was an American criminal who murdered John Dale Terry, a 39-year-old man, near Agency, Iowa, on July 27, 1996. While serving a life sentence at the Iowa State Penitentiary, he developed sepsis from severe kidney stones, requiring him to receive resuscitation. After being resuscitated, he unsuccessfully claimed that his life sentence ended as he had temporarily died.

Biography

Benjamin Edward Schreiber was born in 1952 or 1953. He lived in Ottumwa, Iowa, at the time of the murder of Terry.

On the night of July 27, 1996, Schreiber, who was then 43, went to an abandoned trailer south of Agency with Terry and Evelyn Tangie, Terry's girlfriend. Schreiber bludgeoned Terry with an axe handle and fled the scene with Tangie. Schreiber threw the axe handle from his car west of Agency; it was found the next day with blood and hair on it. Terry's body was found the next morning, and Schreiber was arrested at his house at 11:09 p.m. CDT on July 30.

Schreiber served his sentence at the Iowa State Penitentiary.

Schreiber was held at the Wapello County Jail with a US$250,000 ($485,678 in 2023) bond; a preliminary hearing was set for August 7. He pleaded his innocence on July 31. Tangie was also charged and arrested with a $250,000 bond in March 1997; she was set to be arraigned on March 31. Schreiber saught for his charges to be dismissed due to insufficient evidence; a hearing was scheduled for August 4, 1997, 14 days before his trial was set to begin. Despite his attempts, he was convicted of first-degree murder on August 22, after roughly two hours of deliberation. His sentencing was set for October 6, while Tangie's trial was set for November. While Tangie was convicted of second-degree murder, her conviction was overturned and a retrial was ordered by the Iowa Court of Appeals on February 9, 2000, saying that Charles Denham, a third party, relaying Schreiber's statements violated the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Schreiber appealed his sentence, claiming that he was unable to show in the trial that Terry had a criminal history and he could have been killed by someone else while committing a crime. The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld his conviction on March 31, 1999, saying that Terry's activities were irrelevant to the case and evidence against Schreiber was strong.

In 2000, while imprisoned at the Iowa State Penitentiary, Schreiber filed a lawsuit alongside three other prisoners – Gentric Hicks, Bobby Smith, and Archie Bear – claiming that a 1999 law requiring felons to give a blood sample for DNA profiling was unconstitutional because they were not sentenced to the profiling; the law was passed after their convictions. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled against the prisoners on July 16, 2003, saying that the law did not further punish them but was a deterrent from future crimes. Attorney general Tom Miller supported the ruling.

Schreiber died of natural causes around 10:55 p.m. CDT on April 7, 2023, at a UnityPoint Health center in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He was 70 years old.

Disease and resuscitation

Schreiber is either alive, in which case he must remain in prison, or he is dead, in which case this appeal is moot. We conclude [the law] requires Schreiber to stay in prison for the rest of his natural life, regardless of whether he was resuscitated against his wishes in 2015.

Amanda Potterfield in the Court of Appeals opinion against Schreiber
External documents
Court of Appeals opinion

On March 30, 2015, Schreiber was sent from the Iowa State Penitentiary to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics unconscious after experiencing seizures and a fever; he entered sepsis from severe kidney stones that caused him to urinate internally. Despite signing a do not resuscitate order, which his brother confirmed to the hospital, his heart was restarted five times and he received intravenous fluid resuscitation.

Schreiber requested post-conviction relief in April 2018, claiming that as he temporarily died, his life sentence had ended. A district court in Wapello County dismissed Schreiber's request and the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the district court dismissal on November 6, 2019. In the Court of Appeals opinion, judge Amanda Potterfield described Schreiber's claim as "unpersuasive and without merit" and said that his sentence did not end until a medical examiner declared him dead. She also said that the court does "not believe the legislature intended this provision [...] to set criminal defendants free whenever medical procedures during their incarceration lead to their resuscitation by medical professionals". Schreiber also claimed that his right to due process was violated when the hospital ignored his do not resuscitate order; this claim was not considered by either court. His appeal was compared to that of Jerry Rosenberg, a New York City murderer who unsuccessfully argued that his life sentence ended when his heart stopped during surgery.

Notes

  1. ^ a b While The Des Moines Register reported that Schreiber used a pickaxe handle, most other sources report an axe handle.
  2. ^ While The New York Times reported that Schreiber fell unconscious at the hospital, Oxygen and CNN reported he lost consciousness at the prison; The Des Moines Register reported he that he lost consciousness "by the time he arrived at the hospital".

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Ottumwa man charged in death". Iowa City Press-Citizen. August 1, 1996. p. 2A. Retrieved February 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c Okamoto, Lynn (February 10, 2000). "Appeals court throws out woman's murder conviction". The Des Moines Register. p. 6M. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c "Ottumwa man charged in man's beating death". The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. Associated Press. August 1, 1996. p. A3. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Ottumwa woman charged with 1996 slaying". Globe Gazette. Associated Press. March 30, 1997. p. B2. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Woman charged in clubbing death". The Des Moines Register. Associated Press. March 30, 1997. p. 2B. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Ottumwa man seeks dismissal of charges". The Des Moines Register. August 1, 1997. p. 2A. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Man convicted in death". Iowa City Press-Citizen. August 22, 1997. p. 2A. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Ottumwa man convicted in man's death". Muscatine Journal. Associated Press. August 22, 1997. p. 2A. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
    "Name of offender misidentified". August 25, 1997. p. 5A.
  9. ^ "Court orders new trial for accused murderer". Quad-City Times. February 10, 2000. p. 9A. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Santiago, Frank (April 1, 1999). "Appeal rejected in double slaying". The Des Moines Register. p. 2M. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Iowa Legislature at a glance". The Daily Nonpareil. Associated Press. April 1, 1999. p. 5A. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Obradovich, Kathie (July 17, 2003). "Court upholds law requiring DNA profiling". Quad-City Times. p. A6. Retrieved February 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Wapello County inmate dies in prison". Ottumwa Courier. April 11, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d Geiger, Dorian (November 8, 2019). "Convicted killer claims he served life sentence by temporarily dying – did the court buy it?". Oxygen. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (November 8, 2019). "A prisoner who briefly died argues that he's served his life sentence". The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  16. ^ Andone, Dakin (November 8, 2019). "A convicted murderer who momentarily died says his life sentence has been served". CNN. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c Spoerre, Anna (November 7, 2019). "Iowan convicted of murder claims his life sentence was served when he died, was revived in medical emergency. The court disagrees". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
  18. ^ Norri Farzan, Antonia (November 8, 2019). "An inmate claimed his life sentence ended when he died and was revived. Nice try, court rules". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 2, 2025.