Ohio grand jury indicts brother of pastor shot dead during services
By Kim Palmer
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio grand jury indicted a man on murder and assault charges for the fatal shooting of his brother, a church pastor, during a Sunday service, county prosecutors said on Wednesday.
A Montgomery County grand jury charged 68-year-old Daniel Gregory Schooler, of Dayton, with one count of aggravated murder; and two counts each of murder, felonious assault and having weapons while under disability. The last charge meant he was not legally allowed to have a gun due to a previous conviction.
Dayton police said Reverend William B. Schooler, 70, was shot four times with a stolen .380 caliber handgun, with the final shot witnessed by the pastor's wife of 49 years, Helen Schooler.
A court-appointed attorney for Daniel Schooler could not immediately be reached for comment.
Police and the prosecutors have said they do not know the motive for the shooting, which occurred Feb. 28 inside the office of St. Peter's Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton.
"This defendant coldly shot and killed his own brother, inside a church. It is a tragedy that a well-respected and beloved pastor lost his life due to violence at the hands of a relative," Montgomery prosecutor Mat Heck, Jr. said.
In 2011, Schooler filed a lawsuit against his brother, seeking $25,000 in a dispute over their parents' estate. Schooler represented himself in the case, which was eventually dismissed by a Montgomery County judge.
Schooler was in custody on a $1 million bond, and if convicted faces 19 years to life in prison. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
(Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman and Richard Chang)
