December 3, 2010
Erick Schmitt
Vigo Co. judge Eldred expected to issue decision this month
In a photo from his Web site “Promise to Prison,” Erick Schmitt poses with Ina Simpson, the widow of Charlie Simpson. Erick, a prisoner at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle, is currently serving a 75-year prison term for Charlie’s murder. Four or five years ago, Ina began visiting Erick in prison, offering him her forgiveness. On his Web site, Erick writes, “As a victim, Ina Simpson has a right to hate me and want revenge; but as a Christian, she has given up that right and decided to live free and made the Godly best of a horrible situation. She has forgiven me.”
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
Erick Schmitt’s family members and friends appeared in a Vigo County courtroom last week to testify at a hearing about the transformation they have seen in him, hoping that Superior Court Judge Michael H. Eldred would consider a sentence modification.
It’s been more than 12 years since Schmitt was sentenced to serve 75 years in a maximum security prison for the murder of Charlie Simpson, a clerk at a Motomart in Vanderburgh County. Schmitt was 19 at the time.
Since his conviction he has been an inmate at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle.
In the book, “Arise Together in Christ,” published by Renew International, there is a chapter about Schmitt. According to the book, after two years at the prison Schmitt confided to his former girlfriend that he wanted to kill himself. She was outraged, telling him suicide would be one more selfish act that would hurt more people. He realized that selfishness was at the root of his addiction to drugs, and that it had led to the murder of an innocent man. That was a turning point for the young man, bringing him back to his Catholic roots.
He talked with a priest which led to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and soon he became involved in a Catholic Bible study. He began to meet with prison ministry volunteers, to attend Mass, and to receive the Eucharist.
He started taking college courses in the prison, and earned an associate’s and a bachelor’s degree. He became involved in the Why Catholic? program in the prison, and he began making rosaries for the military and quilts for families of fallen soldiers. He also began writing letters to young adults, warning them about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
A second turning point occurred in his life when Ina Simpson, the widow of the man he had murdered, came to visit him in prison. She told him that she had forgiven him, and promised that if he continued to do positive things with his life she would advocate for his early release from prison.
Last Tuesday, his family members and friends drove to Terre Haute to attend a sentence modification hearing in Judge Eldred’s courtroom. His extended family from the farming community of St. Wendel was there. So were parishioners from Vincennes who do weekly prison ministry in Carlisle.
The first person to testify in his behalf was the widow. She said that immediately following the murder of her husband “I wasn’t angry. I am a Christian, and I know Jesus Christ forgives us. If we are Christians, we should forgive.”
She is a friend of Schmitt’s Aunt Maggie, and through that connection she heard he was reading the Bible while in prison. “I said, ‘This is good.’”
Four or five years ago, she went to the prison to meet with Schmitt, and remembers “he looked me in the eyes. I knew right then and there that this was not the boy from 1998. I knew he was a new man.” Now she visits him once a year. She told the court that if Schmitt receives an early release from prison “he will speak to children and in high schools, places where there are troubled children.”
She concluded her remarks with the words: “I do know he has made a lot of changes, and he definitely is my brother in Jesus.
Susan Schmitt, his mom, was the next person on the stand. She said that since his imprisonment, she has visited her son “at least every 14 days.”
Of her son she says there has been a “total transformation,” which she attributes to him turning to the bible. “He’s totally committed to helping people,” she said. When he writes letters to teens he tells them “there is no way to go but down with drugs.” She told the court that “we have no reservations about his sorrow, about what he has done to Ina.”
Steve Barron, a retired probation officer in the Vanderburgh County court system, said that he has served as Schmitt’s spiritual director for the last four years, speaking with him on a weekly basis. “We discuss where he is on his spiritual journey,” he said, noting that Schmitt leads a Bible study group at the prison. “They have a lot of respect for him. They go to him with their questions.” He added, “He is hungry for knowledge, and he wants to be a true disciple of Christ.”
When asked if Schmitt is “just talking a good game,” he smiled and answered, “I was asked to see Erick because of my ability to see a game. Erick is not like that. It is not a game. It is not a ruse.”
Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger also testified. He talked about hearing the news about the murder at the Motomart. When he learned that Schmitt was a member of the St. Wendel parish community the bishop said that he was “one of my kids.”
Bishop Gettelfinger says Mass for the inmates in the Carlisle prison every Christmas and Easter. That’s when he met Schmitt. “I see that he has truly grown over the years, and struggled with what he has done.” When asked if he had any reservations about a possible sentence modification, the bishop replied, “I have no reservations if he keeps his intent as it has been.”
Schmitt was also allowed to make a statement during the hearing. He said his journey as a prisoner has had “amazing ups and downs,” with the “opportunity to turn my life around.” He said he realizes that he can “never change the past” but promised to “be a positive influence in changing children’s lives before they travel the road I traveled.”
He said his parents were “great role models,” and he took “full responsibility for my actions that night.” He told the court “I stand before you a changed man.”
At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Eldred said if rehabilitation is not rewarded, then there is no incentive for people in prison to change. “I have faith,” he said. “I have hope. I believe Mr. Schmitt’s accomplishments should be merited.”
He took the matter about reducing Schmitt’s sentence under advisement, and said he would make a decision before the end of the year.