Going West: True Crime - Philip Shue // 238

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

In April of 2003, a psychologist was found dead in his car from a car crash. But shortly before his death, he had received threatening letters, and the day he died, he was seen driving erratically before crashing into a tree. Though police ruled his death a suicide, his autopsy revealed unsettling details indicating that he had potentially been tortured and held captive before he crashed his car. This is the story of Philip Shue. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Philip's Obituary: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36015280/philip-michael-shue 2. Arlington Cemetery: https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/pmshue.htm 3. Dateline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0itSpglLimo 4. Obituary: https://www.gilbert-fellers.com/obituary/Philip-Shue 5. Roger's Obituary: https://www.gilbert-fellers.com/obituary/Roger-Shue 6. Philip's memorial Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/colonelphilipshue/ 7. CBS 48 Hours: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-curious-case-of-col-shue-26-03-2009/ 8. Jeffrey's Obituary: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154221647/jeffrey-m-shue 9. Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/colonel-philip-shue_b_1424756 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host Teeve. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. I hope you're all having a wonderful day. And thank you so much for tuning in to yet another episode of Going West. And thank you so much to Heather for recommending today's insane story. We get so many recommendations. I know we say this all the time, but the best way to submit them,

if you are interested in doing so, just email us going westpodcast at gmail.com. That is the best way to do it. And we just really appreciate all your submissions. Also, I just wanted to apologize to anybody who has left a submission that we have not gotten to your case yet. We get so many recommendations pretty much every day,

and it's a long list, but we're trying to get through them. So hang tight if you have recommended a case before. Yes, we get so many every day and it's a long list but we're trying to get through them so hang tight if you have recommended a case before. Yes, we get so many every day but we're trying to get to all them so thank you for your patience and thank you again for tuning in today. All right guys, to it. In April of 2003, a psychologist was found dead in his car after a car crash. But shortly before his death, he had received threatening letters, and the day he died, he was seen driving erratically before crashing into a tree. The police ruled his death as suicide. His autopsy revealed unsettling details, indicating that he had potentially been tortured and held captive before he crashed his car.

This is the story of Philip Schoo. Philip Michael Schu was born on July 22, 1948 to Miriam and Bruce Schu in Brookville, Ohio, which is a small suburb of Dayton. Philip's father Bruce worked at an iron plant, and his mother Miriam was a homemaker. And Philip had two older brothers, Norman, born seven years before him, and Stephen born two years before him. But sadly, Stephen passed away at less than a year old from unknown causes, and the inscription on his tombstone simply says infant. But the family was incredibly overjoyed when two years later they were joined by Philip, and then three years after that, by another son named Roger.

Philip studied at Brookville High School, where he was very active in student life. He was an honor student and a member of the National Honour Society, as well as the High Why Club, which is like a social club for students in middle and high school, affiliated with the YMCA. And while the club has been discontinued, their purpose was, quote, to create, maintain, and extend throughout the school and community, high members of Christian character.

The family were also lifelong members of and very active in their local Methodist church, and Phil was a gifted athlete and competed on his school's baseball, basketball and track teams. His friends and family remember him having a passion for life while also enjoying the simple things and describe him as down to earth, Midwestern, and low-key. After graduating high school in 1966, he went off to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which is also the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which is also the capital of Wisconsin, and basically like this quintessential college

town. There, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in premed graduating in 1970. That same year, Philip completed training for the Air Force at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He was eventually promoted to Lieutenant and then Colonel. He was stationed overseas in Okinawa, Japan, as well as the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War, Bosnia and neighboring Croatia during the Bosnian War and Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In 1971, 23-year-old Philip attended Cincinnati Technical College, graduating as a

physician's assistant. He worked for almost 10 years as a physician's assistant before being accepted to medical school to complete his dream of becoming a psychiatrist. In 1980, at 32 years old, he moved back to Dayton, Ohio to attend Wright State University. After graduating from medical school in 1984, he was accepted into a residency program at Wright Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center, which is also located in Dayton. He also somehow found the time to serve on the local school board, belonging to the board of education for the school district of his beloved hometown of Brookville, Ohio for many years, even serving as president toward the end of his term.

He was doing a whole lot of stuff. Yeah, he was. But Philip also suffered from an affliction called Manier's disease, which, similar to Vertigo, is an inner-year disorder causing symptoms of balance issues, hearing loss, tenitis, and nausea among others. While this prevented him from actually becoming a pilot, Philip served in the Air Force for 30 years. And he was an incredibly decorated member of the military and the medical field. So during his time in the Air Force, he was awarded the Outstanding Psychiatry Resident

Award while working at Wright Patterson. He was selected to attend a specialty training course in Aerospace Medicine, and then he earned the honor of Distinguished Graduate. In 1990, he officially became a board-certified psychiatrist, and he was then chosen to attend a very selective residency in aerospace medicine back in San Antonio, Texas. And while there, he went back to school again to pursue his master's degree in public health, which he completed in 1999. So he, I mean, he had a lot of education. He did a lot. Yeah, he also received specialized education in fields such as survival training, hostage negotiation, and wilderness medicine from the air

command and staff college in Montgomery, Alabama. Shortly before his death, he received an offer for a fellowship at the University of Alabama in Forensic Psychiatry, and he was really looking forward to his retirement from the Air Force to embark upon this new venture. Meanwhile though his professional life was thriving, his personal life was a bit more complicated. So let's go back in time for a sec. So in 1970, the same year that he joined the military and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, he and his from the University of Wisconsin,

he and his girlfriend at the time, Nancy, his high school sweetheart, welcomed his son named Jeffrey Michael, and then two years after that, Philip and Nancy were married. But it wasn't exactly a fairy tale. Apparently, Nancy had been having an affair at the time, and someone close to Philip speculated that Jeffrey, looking nothing like his father, was not biologically related to Philip. However, this was never confirmed, and after a strained 20-year marriage, the couple began navigating a pretty bitter divorce. After he had completed his medical training and residencies, Philip was promoted to Major,

and stationed at Eglene Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle. It was there that he met Tracy, an Air Force nurse with a no-nonsense personality. Philip and Nancy were separated and navigating their divorce at the time, and according to Tracy Quote, he didn't talk a lot about his first wife other than to say that there was not any love in the marriage. But Tracy was immediately taken with him stating quote, I liked him. I liked him as a person. He was a great doctor.

Everybody loved him. So the two began dating. She added quote, I don't think in my whole life I have ever met somebody who had such passion for life and just enjoyed the simple things. He just, he would walk into a room and he would just light it up, and people loved him. He brought nothing but joy into my life. I was very happy. That's a very nice thing to say about him. Yeah, and the two were married in 1993 when Philip was actually 45 years old.

So that year, the couple moved to the Travis Air Force Base in California, situated in between Sacramento and San Francisco. And they lived there until 1998, while Philip was serving as the chief of inpatient mental health, a professor at the University of California Davis campus, and a flight surgeon. Philip was then offered the position of psychiatrist and aerospace medicine physician back where he'd completed his training at the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas near San Antonio.

So he's going back to Texas. And by the way, San Antonio is the second largest city in Texas, known for its rich history and culture from its Spanish mission influence, dating back to the 1800s. Philip and Tracy bought a home in the nearby suburb of Bernie, which is northeast of the city, and Naina Willard, who is Tracy's close friend and the shoes' neighbor, remembers that Tracy, a born and bred New Yorker, was a good balance for Phil,

who she described as a gentle, mild-mannered midwesterner. Nine at-enter husband were also an Air Force couple, and the two couples became good friends. In 2003, after five years working at Lackland, Philip made the decision to retire from the Air Force, and everyone was really sad to see him go. Yeah, I mean, he spent so much time there, over 30 years, so I can imagine it was probably hard for him to leave him go. Yeah, I mean, he spent so much time there, I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. was so spooked that he even made a point of writing, quote, thoroughly examine my death for evidence of foul play. Even if on the surface, the cause would appear natural or accidental. God, that is so eerie. So the following is the last letter that he received before his death. Listen to this. Dear Dr. Shoe, please read this letter. You may be in danger.

I'm writing because I remember you as such a kind and caring doctor, and I can't just sit by and not help you by telling you what I know. I'll try to keep it short, so you're certain to read it. Note your is spelled incorrectly, it's spelled Y-O-U-R. A friend of mine who worked with Don, your ex-wife's husband, told me some scary note, scary is spelled incorrectly as well, like S-K-A-R-Y things. I don't know Don or your ex-wife myself, sorry I don't even know her name. My friend told me they wish you were dead, so they could collect life insurance.

I don't understand why they would have life insurance on you, but that's what my friend told me. My friend thinks they may actually be planning something. I don't know if they would actually hurt you, but please be careful. I had to write. If I didn't, I couldn't bear, and bear is spelled B-A-R-E, the thought of something bad happening to you that I could have prevented by telling you what I heard. If I hear anything more specific, I'll let you know. Please be careful. I'm sorry to worry you, but I just couldn't not write, and find out later that I could

have stopped a bad thing from happening. So this is really weird, because this is an anonymous letter and this person is saying that their friend is telling them that Philips ex-wife Nancy and her new husband Dawn want to kill Philips for his life insurance. So just makes you wonder who is this person writing to him, who remembers him as a good doctor and who is their friend and how are they involved in the circle? How did they even know that they could be planning something like that? It almost yeah, it's it's really weird, but also it sort of feels like the person who's writing the letter is

somehow involved because they keep I don't know just the way the wording is Sounds so strange to me. Yeah, I completely agree. So, you know, this was obviously super alarming to Tracy and Philip, but the style in which it's written is also incredibly strange. Like, the letter is almost reminiscent of the ransom letter found by John Boney Ramsey's parents after her alleged abduction in that, you know, the typos seem almost strategic or deliberate. Like what literate adult can type out a letter like this with proper grammar and indentations

like throughout it, but you misspell scary. Like, you know what I mean? It's a SKARY. Bear maybe, you know, B-A-R-E, that's fine. Maybe you just wrote the wrong one, right? Your people do that all the time, but scary, that's just a weird thing to misspell. I don't know. Maybe we're looking too hard into that, but it is weird.

So is it possible that Philip wrote the letter himself, is something that people are thinking, or could the three typos be some kind of code that only Philip would know how to decipher? So Tracy later told investigators that for years, Philip had been attempting to cancel the life insurance policies that his ex-wife Nancy had taken out on him when they were married. Nancy however refused, citing that she couldn't afford to do so. That's so sketchy though. Like this is your ex-husband and you're saying, oh, I can't afford to not have a life insurance policy on you.

Like, girl. Yeah. Just no. And both Tracy and Philip believe that Nancy and her new husband, Donald Simpson, were planning something nefarious to collect on the insurance policy. And like I said, I mean, huge red flag, if you're saying you can't afford not to have that policy out on him, you're probably wanting that money.

Right. And the only person who is going to benefit from this life insurance policy is Nancy. Right. And that's why her name, or well, not her name, but her presence. And Dawn are mentioned in that letter. But then again, who wrote this letter? Well, Donald was also employed by the Air Force, and he was an active duty pilot at the time. Before his death, Philip wrote to Nancy, pleading with her to drop the policies.

He even wrote that he felt helpless to prevent my eventual murder if you hire good assassins, and that speaks a lot. It does, and it also speaks a lot on what he thinks that she's capable of, or… Right, yeah, that's not a good sign. But Nancy continued to deny any wrongdoing or plotting, and said that the threatening letters were untrue. In her written response to Philips' plea, she said, quote,

this may have been someone's terribly sick idea of a game or a joke. I am not any further involved and never was. So Philips attempted to cancel the policy himself but was told by the insurance company that he couldn't do this. Which is so weird considering. Yeah, it is.

Like this is, it's your life that we're talking about. True. So why aren't you able to make the choice of who benefits from your death? Yeah, it's just those stipulations and you know, small details. Tracey later said, quote, they told him that she owned the policy. And therefore she had total authority over that policy. They could not cancel it. Tracy and Philip believed that the threats were legitimate causes for concern, but they never contacted the police.

Tracy added, quote, we as military members are clearly trained to first go through our chain of command. It's drummed into us from day one. The military was made aware of the situation though, but Tracy isn't sure if the source was investigated or not. Tracy said, quote, I don't know what the military did or did not do, and I don't think I'll ever be privileged to that information.

And that just sucks because we have this physical letter, or they have this physical letter, and they have Nancy saying she can't afford to cancel the policy. So that feels like a pretty good threat to investigate. Yeah, and I think if anybody had a physical letter with someone saying that they're worried about your life, like that someone's trying to take your life, you would feel the same way. I mean, you would want someone to take that seriously, but you know, I don't know if the military really tried here or if they just kind of brushed it off and said,

eh, it doesn't seem like it's all that serious. Yeah, I just, it's unfortunate that they didn't, especially with what is coming up. So on Wednesday, April 16th, 2003, it was a typical warm, dry spring day in Texas. And just the day prior, Tracy and Philip had closed on what they called their dream home in Alabama, which was a sprawling brick house with a pond in the backyard. So they were about to move?

Yeah, they were about to leave Texas altogether. And Tracy remembered fondly, quote, it was a new adventure, a new chapter in his life. I mean, life was just very, very exciting at that moment. Early Wednesday morning, around 5.30 a.m., Philip dressed in his military fatigues, so his uniform, and brought Tracy her coffee in bed. The two excitedly discussed some details about the house, and he kissed her goodbye and told her that he loved her.

He left a short while later, going into work early that morning to, quote, fill out some paperwork. But no one saw Philip for close to two and a half hours, and his whereabouts are unknown, and his time is unaccounted for, for those two and a half hours. Nobody knows where he was or what he was doing. The next time anyone saw him, it was around 8.14am. As Philip was seen driving in his 1995 Mercury tracer, erratically down the 10 freeway, away from San Antonio and towards his home in Bernie. He was apparently switching lanes rapidly, speeding, and darting around cars.

After veering off the side of the highway, the car creamed into a nearby bush and stopped short after hitting a tree directly on the front driver's side, which is thought to have killed 54-year-old Philip Schew instantly of head trauma. But upon further inspection of the scene of what seemed to be an accident, suspicions of foul play emerged. One of the responding officers was Lieutenant Roger Anderson, and he said, quote, this was more than just a car crash.

Philip Schew had sustained shocking injuries. The t-shirt he had been wearing had been cut from his belly button up to his collarbone, so almost the entire shirt. And there was a 6 inch gash in his chest beneath it, which is a really big gash, it's like the size of your phone. Yeah. Both his ankles and wrists had been wrapped in three loops of duct tape. Part of a finger and one of his earlobes were cut off. And most shockingly, his nipples had been cut off as well. Lieutenant Anderson added quote, there's no way that those wounds were accident-related. I mean, how could they be? They're not. That's why this is so insane. When you think about someone being duct taped,

it's not, I mean, that's not conducive of a car accident. Right, so it just makes you think about what happened leading up to that accident. And the accident, like I said, is what killed him. It was him hitting his head. But what happened to him before that? Yeah, and we're gonna get into that. So that afternoon, around 3.30 pm,

so seven hours after the accident, police came to the house to inform Tracy of what had happened to her husband. She said, quote, I've never known for certain why it took them so long to notify me. As she grappled with the news and struggled to understand how this had happened to her husband, the Department of Public Safety came to speak with her as well.

Tracy remembers them asking her if she knew any reason why he would have had duct tape around his wrists and his ankles. Quote, oh my god, she remembers screaming, they've killed him. Tracy gave detectives the letters that she and Philip had been receiving right then and there, but it never led to any revelations or answers in the case. Months later, a reporter called her home asking for her opinion on the state of his body as revealed by the autopsy. Up until that point, she hadn't even been notified by detectives that he had been mutilated.

And it's just really suspicious that with all that mutilation, they made it just seem like he was killed in an accident, and the letters didn't like switch something on for them that this was all very strange and more than likely connected. Yeah, I truly do not understand that. So Tracy had already had her suspicions about the circumstances surrounding her husband's death, but hearing the horrifying details from a stranger over the phone confirmed it for her. Tracy later said, quote, there's never been a question in my mind that my husband was murdered,

never any doubt. Phillips' wife Tracy concluded unequivocally that her husband had been a victim of foul play. But many people, investigators and spectators alike believe that these injuries were self-inflicted and elaborate ruse to stage an accident and cover up his own suicide. And with that thought, let's recap. Part of his finger was cut off. One of his earlobes, his shirt was cut all the way down and hit a 6 inch gash in his abdomen. His nipples were removed and his wrists and ankles were duct taped and they're saying

that he did all this to himself and then crashed his car on purpose. I'm sorry but if you believe that, I don't know, I don't know what's going on with your mind. And it's so disappointing that this is what investigators are thinking because, oh man, that's just no. But also, why would he want to cover up his own suicide? I mean, does he make any sense? I don't get that either. And if you were gonna do that, why go through all of that torture and mutilation of yourself just to drive off of a road in hitotry?

Yeah, exactly. And apparently Philip had been seeing some of his colleagues for depression and panic attacks at the time of his death, although that doesn't necessarily indicate that he took his own life, especially with all the gruesome additions. And eerily, Phillips' doctor remembered him having a nightmare about losing control of his car on the way to work just a few months before that very fate befell him, which is very weird. That's interesting.

Dr. Vincent Demaya was the chief medical examiner of the county at the time, the one who performed Phillips autopsy. And when asked if he thought Philip went to those lengths to kill himself? Dr. Demaya said, quote, well, based upon the information that was provided, that's the only conclusion. I don't think so. What? Dr. Demaya wonders why, if he had been alone in his car,

he didn't seek help. He said, quote, I mean, if you had been tortured like that and you had broken free, where would you go? You would go to either the police or a hospital. But he was driving away from San Antonio in the hospitals. He passed three of the exits to his own town, Bernie. He had a working cell phone. I mean, this action is not consistent with someone fleeing in a salient. One reason that he was held to his initial assessment is because he found light

a cane, a local anesthetic, in the Philip system during the autopsy. So, Dr. Demio remarked, quote, if you're going to torture someone by mutilating them, are you going to give them an anesthetic to prevent them from feeling pain? That's the thing that doesn't make any sense. And I agree with that, with that assessment, that fair statement. Right, that's a fair statement,

but it's almost like he's kind of beating around the bush about all this other evidence that is going on here yeah he's kind of saying well if that doesn't make sense for this but it's also like look at look at what happened to him i feel like you know the details of what happened him are even more strange in the fact that he passed the re-exits to his hometown and you was lived. Yeah, and you can't definitively say that the reason why he was headed away

from the police station and the hospital is because he wasn't fleeing some assailant. Like if you weren't there and you weren't in his mind, you can't positively say the reason why he was headed in any direction. Right, and we're gonna talk about this a little bit more when another autopsy is conducted, but we will get to that soon. So Tracy obviously disagreed with this assessment

from the beginning. And she says that she knows her husband would not have done this to himself or to her. Naina Willard agreed saying, quote, there's just no way. Tracy claims that instead of the picture being painted by investigators that he was just like this disturbed man, his concerns had been recent and had only begun as a reaction to the letters that he had been receiving. Tracy said, quote, that fear never left him.

He didn't know what to do. He felt like he tried everything, every avenue to try to address this, including his ex-wife. And it was still a brick wall. He couldn't control it. And this is probably a big reason why he was so excited about his move that he could be in a different state

and kind of start over and hopefully not have somebody on his back. Yeah, and it appeared that there were certain things going on, like we mentioned the depression and stuff like that, but they were also buying their dream home in a different state, so maybe that was gonna be the next step for him and his happiness. Right, and it makes sense to have those feelings

when you're getting a bunch of different letters where somebody is detailing that somebody else is trying to kill you. Like that must be a really terrifying feeling. And so it makes sense even as a psychiatrist to go see a psychiatrist to get help for what you're going through. Yeah, and Tracy says that the stress began to take its toll. She said, quote, never before had he ever ever showed any symptoms of depression or, or anxiety. This was a happy, healthy man who loved life. In 2009, so six years after Philip's death, CBS's 48 hours did an episode on Philip's shoe, which heavily featured Tracy and her journey for answers since her husband's death. When asked in

that interview why she thought that he had been cut up and wrapped in duct tape, she said that she had concluded then and there that he had been abducted and tortured, saying, quote, what other explanation could there be? I mean, it really is just so bizarre because, you know, it's fair again to point out that he missed numerous exits to his home and didn't seem to know what he was doing or where he was going. But maybe he was trying to get away from the area after potentially escaping a situation in which he was possibly abducted and being tortured as Tracy believes. And if Nancy and Don were

responsible so they could collect life insurance on him, I could see them using light a cane on him or light a cane, sorry. but why torture and mutilate him as he was? Like, that doesn't make sense to me. I mean, possibly because Nancy, if she was behind this, was still pissed off from that bitter divorce. I don't know. Right.

And here's another possibility. So, one thing in particular that points Tracy to the conclusion that it was Nancy and Dawn behind this, aside from what they stood to gain from the payout of Philip's life insurance policy, Nancy was a certified sex therapist who also considered herself an expert in sadomasochism. Tracy said, quote, I believe that the injuries that he sustained are consistent with an act of sadism, and they certainly are sexual in nature. When asked if her husband had any particular interest in sadomasochistic tendencies himself,

Tracy replied, quote, no, he didn't. And it's interesting that you would ask that question because you were actually the first person out of the entire five-year time frame that has ever asked me that question because you were actually the first person out of the entire five-year time frame that has ever asked me that question and I do believe it is an appropriate question to ask. Nancy rebukes that she and her husband were both at work in Florida at the time of Philip's death and said that she believes Tracy and Philip wrote the letters themselves. But why? Yeah, I don't know why. However, Nancy refused to consent to a polygraph test. She was questioned by lawyers,

but pled the fifth every time, reciting, quote, on the advice of counsel and pursuant to the fifth amendment of the Constitution of the United States, I assert my right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer this question on the ground that any answer might incriminate me. And she pled the fifth more than 20 times during the questioning, avoiding anything relating to the alleged murder or torture. After Philip's death, Tracy filed a lawsuit attempting to prevent Nancy from collecting on Philip's insurance policy. But unfortunately, the policy held up, and Nancy was awarded $1 million after the death of Colonel Philip Schoo. Tracy embarked on her own quest for answers, hiring Dr. Cyril Wett to perform a second

autopsy, which we just had talked about earlier, and Dr. Wett has loaned his expertise to many high profile cases, including the assassination of President Kennedy, and he disagrees with the assessment that the death was a suicide, and points to the anesthesia as a key indication why, he said quote, we have no injection site identified by the pathologist in the original autopsy, no injection site identified by the pathologist in the original autopsy. None I find. No needle or syringe found, and no cutting instrument of any kind to be attributed to Colonel Shoe. Dr. Wett also concluded that there had not been enough lidocaine in his system to actually numb the pain of what was being done to him, and that the puncture wounds that Dr. Demile believed were shots of lycopaine that Philip had administered himself were actually, most likely, just

further evidence of torture. He added, quote, there's an equally plausible scenario to such marks. And they're called torture. His fingerprints were not found on the duct tape, and no gloves were found. I would place my bet that this was a homicide. These are all very interesting points. The lack of fingerprints on the duct tape doesn't connect him to putting them on himself,

and although it's not impossible, taping your own wrists isn't easy. Yeah, not without getting your own fingerprints on it. Right, especially. And then you have to wonder where Philip would have done all this to himself if there were no instruments or missing body parts in his car and the crime scene has not been located. So, if none of the actual tools to commit these things upon oneself

are not in the vehicle, where did this happen? Yeah, it's... It didn't happen at his house. It's a mystery. It's a mystery. But that's something that it doesn't happen at his house. It's a mystery. It's a mystery. But that's something that it doesn't seem Dr. Damiya really thought about. So in 2009, after six years of effort in the pursuit of justice by Tracy,

the Texas Attorney General put together a jury to rule on the cause of death of Philip Schoo. But 12 jurors ruled in favor of suicide, upholding the original cause of death in the investigation, which is a huge shock to me. However, the presiding judge, Judge Palmer, did rule in favor of it being a homicide, even though the jurors and attorney general ultimately decided it was not.

Go judge Palmer. According to Judge Palmer, quote, the evidence considered by the court substantiates a finding that Colonel Philip Schu was murdered. The court therefore finds that the April 16th, 2003 death of Colonel Philip Schu was a homicide. While this is not a reopening of the case

or an official ruling, it was a small comfort to Tracy, who said quote, it's given me, finally, a sense of peace just to hear the judge actually declare that it is what it is. It was a murder and the murderers need to be brought to justice. I'm sure now I'm a different person than a lot of ways and I think I'm a stronger person having gone through it. I think I'm a different person than a lot of ways and I think I'm a stronger person having gone through it I think I'm a more spiritual person having gone through this you have to be you have to be in order to survive it The private investigator hired by CBS's 48 hours said after the trial quote that sad, isn't it? But I tell you what there was a judge who agrees with me sitting on the bench He said this was not suicide. This was homicide.

As of 2017, Philips Carr still sat in police custody. Tracy says that she had been asked to pick it up on numerous occasions, but quote, that car is a crime scene, she said. As far as I'm concerned, the authorities have a solemn obligation to treat it as such. Yeah, so she's like, I don't want the car back until you're done doing what you need to do. Yeah, because even though Judge Palmer, sorry, ruled it a homicide, the police still haven't done that. Like I said, so she still wants them to be able to utilize his vehicle to turn this case into a murder. Yeah, yeah.

So Philip was buried with military honors in a lavish ceremony at the famed Arlington National Cemetery on October 28, 2005, so two and a half years after his death. Both Tracy and his mom Miriam laid single white roses on his casket as he was lowered into the ground. A uniformed officer presented Tracy with the traditional tri-folded flag in honor of Philip's service.

Philip's cousin Ron said at the funeral quote, Phil, know this, that while you rest, the mission for truth will continue and it will be accomplished. Sadly, Philips older brother Norman passed away in 1999 at the age of 64, so four years before Philip, and his younger brother Roger died in 2010 at the age of 59, so seven years after Philip, joining their deceased infant brother Steven and Philip.

That is so wild to me, like they all died young. Yeah, it's really tragic. I feel for this family to lose that many people, and especially in such a close time frame as well. So true. So while Philip's body was laid to rest in Virginia, his name is still displayed on the headstone alongside his three brothers back in his hometown of Brookville, Ohio, at a cemetery called

Arlington, which is strange enough, kind of ironic. Yeah, that there's two, two Arlington's. Yeah. So Philips' father Bruce and mother Miriam died in 2012 and 2015, respectively, but not before seeing all four of their sons pass on. So sad. Yeah, I've always said this, you know, no parents should have to bury a child, and they had to bury four of them.

So tragically, Philip's son, Jeffrey, has since passed away as well, succumbing to a short illness at just 45 years old. After Philip's cause of death was upheld, Tracy, while despondent at the news, seemed to be ready to put the whole ordeal behind her. She said, quote, I think right now I'm able to start grieving. I've spent the past five years fighting, and now I just need time to grieve and then move on with my life. [♪ music playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing dive into. Now of course, you know, Phillips family has passed, but Tracy still I'm sure wants to see justice in this case despite the fact that she also wants to move on. This is still an unsolved

case like unless you believe it's a suicide which he and I do not. So don't forget to share this story. Thank you so much again to Heather for recommending it. I had not heard of it previously, but what a whirlwind. Yeah, and also let us know what you think about this case, because I mean, it really is just so strange all the details. And yeah, I mean, I'd love to talk about it with you guys and see what you think. Yeah, check us out on our socials. We are on Instagram at going West podcast, Twitter at going WestPod. And then we're also on Facebook. We are on Instagram at Going West Podcast, Twitter at Going West Pod, and then we're also on Facebook. We have a discussion group and then we also have a regular page. Yeah, let us know what you guys think and thank you so much for tuning in.

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