The Deaths of the Schloegl Family

This case is different than a lot of cases that I blog about. There is no dispute as to what happened or who committed the crime. The case never saw the inside of a courtroom. Because of such the facts of the case are sparse, but it also opens up a whole world of other types of speculation. People have debated on whether the adults in the situation handled things as they should have; they have debated on whether law enforcement could have done more; and they have debate just who was in the right, despite the end.

Seventy-two year old Paul Crawford bought his lakeside home apparently sometime in 1995. Just how long his neighbors, Warren and Marcella Schloegl, had lived in the Sauk Centre Minnesota neighborhood is not clear, but it appears it had been significantly longer. Prior to Paul moving into his home the Schloegl family had built a boat dock on the edge of what they believed to be their property allegedly because it was the only place that it could go. When Paul moved in he believed the dock was his or at the very least was on his property. This started the dispute between the two neighbors.

Eventually Paul would pay what was said to be between $300 and $400 for a land survey. It would be determined by the survey that the boat dock was in fact on Paul's property by about five feet. At some point then Paul began insisting that the Schloegl's move the dock themselves and Warren Schloegl refused. It was said that the feud between the two neighbors was escalated by the fact that Warren Schloegl encouraged his children to taunt the elderly man by throwing things onto his property and continually accessing the dock. Whether this happened or was perceived and to what extent is unclear.

But to be fair it appears that both Paul Crawford and Warren Schloegl had issues with neighbors in the past. What those issues were for Paul is not completely clear but it has been indicated that he moved to the area in which he did in order to start over with a new, what he thought more quiet and better area. It is unclear what kind of research or checking that Paul did prior to buying the property. I would think that he would have asked about property lines (in fairness, maybe he did) and the neighbors since he was apparently leaving a bad situation. For Warren's part it was said later that several neighbors had signed a petition about the fact that he trespassed on their land during hunting season. Many have pointed to this behavior as Warren disrespecting property lines and doing as he pleased, no matter where he was.

So in reality you have a forty-one year old man, with three teenage children and a wife living in their home with more of a freestyle lifestyle it seems. I do not want to say Warren was disrespectful of people since I cannot say that as a fact but at the very least he seemed more casual and laid back. And then you have a seventy-two year old man who is set in his way and apparently very strict about following rules and respecting lines. It was a recipe for disaster.

On the evening of June 21, 1996 sixteen year old Nicole Schloegl left the home for the evening. Some reports say that she went to stay with a relative for the night while other reports say it was simply for a teenage night out. Not long after she left the police were called to the area. It appears that Paul had called the police out because according to him not only had the Schloegl family not respected his property but that one of them had removed one of his survey stakes, which in essence made the survey (and the money he spent) useless. Whether someone in the Schloegl family had removed the stake was never proven. Some say of course one of the family members took it. Others say that anything could have happened to it and Paul did not actually see what happened and assumed it was someone in the family. The two men were arguing and yelling back and forth while the officer was there but when the officer left he felt that the men had calmed down and that it would be handled in more of a legal matter. Some say this could have easily been solved, but I am unsure I agree. The city commissioners or county could have granted an easement to the Schloegl family to access their dock. It does not appear that this was ever attempted however or looked into since the two “adult” men preferred to fight it back and forth. But in fairness it seems unlikely that if an easement had been granted that Paul Crawford would have been okay with that decision. I get the impression that Paul was fine with the rules and the law as long as he benefited. When he discovered that the dock was on his property, he wanted it moved, period. On the other side of that Warren Schloegl would argue not only that there was no where to move it to, but he was not going to pay for the move, and that it was there before Paul bought his property. If the county would have granted the Schloegl's access through an easement to their dock I suspect more issues would have arose but it will forever be anyone's guess as to what they would have been.

Again, the officer left the home believing Warren Schloegl when he said he would settle the dispute legally and also believing that tempers had cooled. Some fifteen minutes after the officer left neighbors would hear gunshots and at least two 911 calls would be made. The first would be made by eleven year old Eric Schloegl from inside his home. The second would be made by nearby neighbors who not only saw Paul Crawford brandishing his gun, but would seen Warren Schloegl fall to the ground.

By the time police arrived on the scene there would be five dead bodies. Inside the Schloegl home would be thirty-nine year old Marcella with her son Eric. Outside in the yard lay Warren and his twelve year old daughter, Jodi. And then next door in his own backyard laid the body of Paul Crawford. Just before stepping outside he apparently called his ex-wife and simply asked her to come to the house. Police would not only find the gun used with Paul, they would determine that at some point in time Paul had returned home, reloaded his gun and went back to the Schloegl home, many believe to kill Eric last. The only surviving Schloegl family member was the one person who was not home, Nicole.

How did things get this far? How could Paul Crawford possibly believe that this was an answer to anything? In the end neither family got what they wanted... use of the property but what made this case even worse was the murders of the children. While it had been argued that Warren may have encouraged his children to be mean to the elderly man, the fact of the matter is that they were still children. Add to this the worse it seems that was done was possibly throwing items onto Paul's property. Hardly enough to warrant murder and remember, neither was even officially a teenager. That is in no way saying that Warren or Marcella deserved anything like this, as they did not, but the animosity against Paul was multiplied with the deaths of the children, especially with the thought he may have reloaded his gun for the sole purpose of murdering Eric.

Few people ever win when murder is involved... that is never more true than in this case.