Leo Schofield: Man who spent 35 years in prison for 18-year-old wife's murder may be innocent
POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: A man who spent 35 years in jail for murdering his 18-year-old wife could be innocent, as another offender has confessed to the crime. Leo Schofield was just 21 years old when his wife Michelle Saum Schofield mysteriously went missing in 1987. After a three-day search, Michelle’s body was finally found in a rural canal in Lakeland, Polk County, Florida.
Schofield was considered a prime suspect at that time, even though he spent days frantically looking for his wife. Eventually, he was convicted of Michelle’s murder and was given a life sentence after Polk County prosecutors agreed that he killed her in a fit of rage on the evening of February 24, 1987. They said Leo erupted in anger after Michelle failed to pick him up from a friend’s house after a waitressing shift that evening. “The indignity of being made to wait so enraged Schofield that, when they got back to their trailer, he stabbed her 26 times,” prosecutors added, according to Tampa Bay Times.
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Who is the real killer?
Schofield allegedly covered his wife's body in a sheet, put it in the Mazda station wagon's cargo compartment, and with his father’s help, dumped it in a deserted Lakeland canal. However, no physical evidence linked him to the crime as multiple witnesses gave him an alibi for the evening of the murder. Crime scene investigators were unable to find Michelle's blood in the trailer she and Schofield shared, despite the fact that she was discovered with several stab wounds and five quarts of blood spilled. One of the couple’s neighbors told investigators that through the open door of Schofield’s trailer, she saw him using a carpet cleaner. But officials found no signs that the carpet was freshly cleaned.
While Schofield was always the main suspect, someone else has confessed to Michelle’s murder. Repeat offender Jeremy Scott confessed to author Gilbert King, who has spent more than three years investigating the murder case, that he stabbed Michelle in an uncontrolled attack, according to Express UK. Scott, who is currently serving a life sentence for strangling another man with a phone cord during a robbery, made the confession on the ‘Bone Valley podcast’ in 2022.
‘That man ain't do nothing'
Scott claimed he accidentally ran into Michelle at a pay phone and then stabbed her out of uncontrollable rage, according to Mirror. After the incident, he wrapped Michelle up in plastic he found nearby, and to shield her from gators and snakes, he placed plywood over her. Then, he drove away in her Mazda and began wiping the car down to remove fingerprints. But one of his fingerprints was later found in the back of the vehicle. “The state doesn't dwell on the Mazda's condition or location. It's Jeremy who accounts for this and describes what it felt like driving the vehicle as it broke down,” Gilbert said on the podcast, as per Express UK.
“And then, there's the evidence Jeremy left in the car. One of his fingerprints was lifted from inside of the driver's side window. Another fingerprint was found in the back of the vehicle where the speakers were. It was on a receipt near the Downy bottle that was smeared with Michelle's blood,” Scott stated, adding, “They don't want me helping him out. Man in prison for 33 years, he needs to be out. That man ain't do nothin'. He's innocent.” Following Scott’s confession, a circuit judge denied Schofield a new trial. His attorney appealed, with a three-judge panel ruling in Schofield’s favor, but a Polk Circuit judge contended that Schofield would probably still be found guilty. Schofield’s next chance at parole is on May 3.