Officials: Death of officer’s wife ruled a suicide by two autopsies
Officials said Monday no criminal charges will be brought in the death of Regina Schoellkopf after an independent autopsy commissioned by the family ruled her death last year was a suicide.
The statement from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office stood in stark contrast to the family’s position that she was “murdered.”
A BCPO spokesman said results of the family’s private autopsy were the same as one performed by the Burlington County medical examiner after Regina Schoellkopf was found hanging July 2 inside the Settlers Way home she shared with estranged husband, Scott Schoellkopf, a member of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office.
The couple was experiencing marital discord and apparently having financial troubles around the time of her death. They were getting divorced, the Mercer County sheriff’s officer told a dispatcher, according to a 911 recording obtained by The Trentonian.
“Our conclusion that this was a suicide was determined by the investigation conducted by the Chesterfield Township Police Department and the results of the autopsy performed by the Burlington County Medical Examiner’s Office,” BCPO spokesman Joel Bewley wrote in an emailed statement to The Trentonian. “The results of the second, independent autopsy were provided to our office. Those results also concluded that it was a suicide.”
Bruce Baker, Regina Schoellkopf’s father, didn’t dispute prosecutors’ characterization of the family’s autopsy results. But he told the newspaper he wasn’t comfortable commenting until he and his wife meet with Chesterfield Township Police.
“I really can’t talk about it right now,” he said. “We have a number of questions about things and want to talk to the Chesterfield police.”
Regina Baker, Regina Schoellkopf’s mother, previously told The Trentonian her lawyer had provided the autopsy report to BCPO, signaling the family hoped prosecutors moved forward with a foul-play investigation. She stated in no uncertain terms her belief that her daughter was killed.
“She was murdered,” Regina Baker said last month. “I was in the room where she was. I saw the situation. I made my deductions. I know my daughter.”
Despite multiple requests for it, The Trentonian has been unable to obtain a copy of the autopsy report from the family or prosecutors.
When the newspaper asked BCPO for the independent autopsy report last month, the office claimed it didn’t “possess” the report.
The Trentonian made a second request for the autopsy results Monday after Bewley sent the newspaper an emailed statement saying his office was “made aware” of the autopsy results.
Chief Kyle Wilson had previously told The Trentonian the death of the Mercer County sheriff officer’s wife didn’t appear suspicious.
Late last month, when the newspaper asked for an update on the case, Wilson said the department hadn’t concluded the investigation and was still “covering all our bases.”
In a statement Monday, Wilson said the department closed the death probe following “extensive investigation, which included collection and processing of physical evidence, witness statements, and in cooperation with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Burlington County Medical Examiner’s Office.”
The Schoellkopfs had a tumultuous relationship. Regina Schoellkopf called the cops on her husband April 28.
The 911 call, obtained by The Trentonian, showed Regina Schoellkopf was afraid of her spouse.
“My husband just hurt me,” Regina Schoellkopf said to a police dispatcher. “He’s threatening me... please hurry.”
The wife, who was barricaded in the bathroom when she called police, said she was “knocked down.” At one point in the audio recording, Regina said, “I’m trying to protect myself” to someone in the home.
“F**k you,” a man shouted back.
The couple gave different accounts of the April fight in written statements obtained by The Trentonian.
Five days before her death, a judge dismissed the simple assault charge filed by police against Scott Schoellkopf, who was suspended without pay for three months following his arrest.
Schoellkopf returned to work Aug. 16, according to payroll records obtained by the newspaper through a public records request.
The records also show the lieutenant, who makes more than $134,000 a year, has been suspended at least three times – two of which The Trentonian reported on – during his 18 years with the sheriff’s office.
The second suspension, listed as “major” in payroll records, came in June 2016 over undisclosed allegations of criminal misconduct.
Mercer County prosecutors chose not to bring charges against Scott Schoellkopf after reviewing the matter and sent the case back to the sheriff’s office for internal punishment.
The nature of the allegations that led to the suspension were never publicly disclosed as officials contended internal affairs are confidential. Scott Schoellkopf returned to work a month later, according to payroll records.
His first disciplinary action, classified as a “minor/ susp[ension] in abeyance,” came in March 2011, payroll records show.
The length of the suspension and what led to it was unclear.