Month: February 2019

by William Crum

All criminal charges were dismissed by a judge today in the Schlitterbahn Verruckt case.

Charges had been filed through a grand jury in Wyandotte County District Court in connection with the death of a boy on the waterslide in August of 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. The boy, Caleb Schwab, was the son of Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who was a state legislator at the time of the death.

The cases were being handled by the Kansas attorney general’s office, and the judge said the prosecutors had tainted the grand jury.

A spokeswoman for Schlitterbahn, Winter Prosapio, released this statement on today’s decision: “We welcome today’s decision which dismissed the charges against all defendants. We are thankful for all the support and encouragement we’ve received.”

The criminal charges of second-degree murder against Jeff Henry, Schlitterbahn owner, and John Schooley, designer, were dismissed. Also dismissed was a reckless involuntary manslaughter charge against Tyler Miles, former director of operations.

Previously, in October two Schlitterbahn maintenance employees were found not guilty of obstructing the investigation into the death.

At the time of Caleb’s death, the Verruckt was said to be the world’s tallest water slide. It has since been dismantled.

To see a copy of the judge’s journal entry, visit https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/District-Court/Documents/JOURNALENTRY(MOTIONGRANTED)CASEDISMISSED.pdf.