Woman Convicted Of Homicide Decades After A Body Was Found In A Racine Corn Field: Sheriff

RACINE COUNTY, WI — A jury on Wednesday found Linda LaRoche, 67, guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in connection with the death of Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder, the Racine County Sheriff's Office announced in a news release.

The victim was at first unidentifiable. The sheriff's office said she was found in a cornfield in Raymond on July 21, 1999, beaten and malnourished, but the investigation went cold and she was buried in Racine County under the name Jane Doe. Eventually, her body was exhumed, and in 2019, investigators were able to identify her through forensic genealogy and interviews as 23-year-old Johnson-Schroeder, according to the Racine County Sheriff's Office.

Johnson-Schroeder's remains were moved to her family's burial plot in Illinois after she was identified, and an investigation into who was responsible continued, the sheriff's office said.

Investigators were able to determine Johnson-Schroeder was living with a family in McHenry, Illinois, before she was killed. LaRoche was the "matriarch" of that family, the sheriff's office said.

LaRoche had since moved to Florida, where she was interviewed. The sheriff's office said that during those interviews, LaRoche made inconsistent and incriminating statements about her interactions with Johnson-Schroeder, including a claim that Johnson-Schroeder had moved out of the house before she was found dead, the sheriff's office said.

During the trial, children of LaRoche had described Johnson-Schroeder as sweet and quiet, The Journal Times reported. Diane Donohoo, the assistant district attorney for Racine County, said during closing arguments LaRoche may have been jealous of the victim, the report says.

LaRoche had brought Johnson-Schroeder into her home for a job helping with housework, testimony during the case had revealed, The Journal Times report says, but as Donohoo said in closing statements of the trial, witnesses pointed out a series of abuses that were escalated by LaRoche against the victim.

Further Reading: The Journal Times' report on the conviction of LaRoche.

Donohoo had said LaRoche was a substantial actor in injuries that led to events in which Johnson-Schroeder's body was eventually found dead in Racine, The Journal Times report said.

The sheriff's office, along with the Racine County District Attorney, worked together to present a case that eventually led to a jury unanimously finding LaRoche guilty of the homicide and hiding of the corpse, the sheriff's news release said.

LaRoche had pleaded not guilty to both charges of homicide and hiding a corpse on June 25, 2020, online court records show. The jury took just under 90 minutes to reach a guilty verdict in both charges on Wednesday, online records show.

Sentencing for LaRoche was scheduled for May 23.

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling expressed condolences to the family of Johnson-Schroeder in the news release.