My Mom is Cooler than Yours

Via The Hufington Post:

How about a bit of strangeness for your Sunday?

Philip Schuth, 56 of French Island, WI has been doing everything he possibly can to stay in solitary confinement for the duration of his 7 year prison sentence. Since he was sentenced in November 2005, he has earned more than 1,400 days in "the hole" for swearing at guards, threatening people, or just refusing to leave his cell. According to a Huffington Post article he is in prison for hiding a corpse, attempted homicide, recklessly endangering safety, and a concurrent 4-month federal sentence for Social Security Fraud.

From The Huffington Post:

For decades Schuth and his mother, Edith, lived in a crumbling two-story house in the town of Campbell, a hamlet of about 4,000 people on French Island outside La Crosse. Children teased him in school and he never found real work, neighbors said. He often walked the streets in knee-high rubber boots.

Things came to a head in April 2005, when Schuth shot Randy Russell Jr. after Russell came into his yard to ask if Schuth had hit Russell's 10-year-old son. Russell fled and Schuth retreated into his house. An all-night standoff with police ensued. Schuth eventually surrendered without incident and Russell survived his wounds.

Police then discovered Schuth's dead mother in a basement chest freezer, frozen into a 200-to-300 pound block of ice. Schuth told investigators she died in 2000 of natural causes. He kept her hidden because he feared police might charge him with homicide and he needed her Social Security payments.

The article also discusses a speech he gave in federal court that included Latin and a plea for actress Jennifer Garner to be given more roles and for Ben Affleck to be given fewer. It also indicates he spent at least a year of his prison term at "another facility" that could not be named due to patient confidentiality rules.

Now, I'm not psychologist, psychiatrist, or even a very good listener. But I think it's pretty clear this guy should not be in prison. He should be under treatment for his mental problems, certainly, but how is an obviously mentally ill person served (or how is society protected from him) by locking him up with (other) criminals?

And you know what? I don't think I'm going to refer to myself as antisocial anymore. Sure I don't like being around people that much but it could be much worse (apparently). In comparison to Schuth I barely qualify as a hermit. At least not until I clear out the ice chest for Mama so I don't have to face people coming into my home.