Schulz-Juedes death investigated as homicide

Cindy Schulz-Juedes, the former Unity area woman serving a life sentence for the 2006 murder of her husband, Ken, was found dead in her prison cell last Wednesday, leading to the start of a homicide investigation, according to Fond du Lac authorities.

Correctional officers found Schulz-Juedes, 68, unresponsive on the morning of July 21, and efforts to revive her were unsuccessful, according to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. No cause of death was divulged.

“Police continue to investigate the circumstances of the death,” the press release states. “The investigation is in its preliminary stages and remains an active investigation. No additional details are available at this time.”

Schulz-Juedes was convicted of firstdegree homicide in 2021 and sentenced in 2022 to life in prison. She was serving her sentence at Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac.

Ken Juedes was killed at his home near Unity on Aug. 30, 2006, and Schulz-Juedes was soon identified as a “person of interest” by police. The case remained under investigation for 13 years before Schulz-Juedes was arrested in 2019 following a lengthy interview by police at her home in Chippewa Falls.

Five other suspects were initially investigated as possible accomplices in the homicide, but Schulz-Juedes was the only one charged with a crime. However, she was charged as a “party to a crime,” suggesting that others could have been involved.

At her trial in October of 2021, prosecutors accused Schulz-Juedes of killing her husband in order to benefit from over $1 million in life insurance policies and other assets. Her defense attorney, Earl Gray, tried unsuccessfully to convince the jury that others killed Ken Juedes and that Cindy was not involved.