Charges filed in Delafield I-94 crash that killed Canadian good Samaritan

Bruce Vielmetti
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

WAUKESHA - An Oconomowoc man with a history of drunken driving was charged Thursday with homicide resulting from a crash that killed a Canadian man who had stopped to help another motorist on I-94 in Delafield last weekend.

Frank C. Schiller

Frank C. Schiller, 37, faces 10 felonies, including homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle, for the Saturday crash. He has been held on a $1 million bail since his arrest and made his initial court appearance Thursday. His next hearing was set for July 20.

Other charges include four counts of operating while intoxicated, causing injury, fifth or sixth offense drunken driving, and four counts of felony bail jumping.

Police say Peter Enns, 48, of Alberta, Canada, had stopped along eastbound I-94 around 9 p.m. to help a couple whose minivan had a flat tire.

Schiller, who some witnesses said appeared to be going about 90 mph eastbound, tried passing some cars on the shoulder and struck Enns, killing him, and sending the minivan, with four children inside, tumbling into the ditch.

The couple, parents of the children inside the minivan, were standing outside at the time of the collision. The mother told investigators she heard a boom and thought the van had exploded.

Another passing good Samaritan, a physician, stopped to help Enns, but he was pronounced dead about an hour later at a hospital.

Schiller was trapped inside a gray Ford Taurus, and deputies broke a window to free him. He was also taken to the hospital, where deputies immediately smelled the odor of intoxicants. Because of his record of OWI convictions, Schiller could have a blood-alcohol concentration no higher than  0.02, a quarter of the legal limit for most drivers.

Deputies got a warrant to take a blood sample, but the complaint does not indicate the results of any testing.

While at the hospital, Schiller told investigators he did not remember leaving his parents' Summit house or the accident.

Minutes before the crash, Schiller's mother had called Summit police to report her "druggie" son had been in an argument with his parents and left the house before police got there. She said he seemed high and would likely try to evade police.

At the time of the crash, Schiller was free on a $2,500 signature bond for a pending fifth-offense drunken driving case in Milwaukee from March. Since his release, he was charged with new crimes in Washington (bail jumping and possession of drug paraphernalia) and Waukesha (possession of narcotics) counties.

He posted cash bail of $500 and $1,000 in those cases, but his pretrial release terms in the Milwaukee case were never modified, despite notices to Circuit Judge Pedro Colòn of the violations. He also missed two appointments with pretrial services in Milwaukee, but each time he was in jail, once in West Bend in April, and then in Waukesha in June.

In response to the weekend fatality, three state lawmakers announced plans for a bill that would require circuit judges set bail in any felony case. In Milwaukee and some other counties, the initial decision set cash bail or a signature bond with conditions of release is usually made by a court commissioner, appointed by local judges to handle pretrial matters.

"The hope is that the bill will improve the public's confidence in the criminal justice system and build accountability in elected officials," said Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, one of the sponsors and former judge.

Representatives Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) and John Spiros (R-Marshfield) are also supporting the bill.

Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel reported for this story from Milwaukee with Michelle Liu in Waukesha.