It was one of the most notorious cases in Colorado. Two elderly sisters, one abandoned in Mexico, the other held prisoner while a man named Sherman Schuett lived in their home and spent their money.
A parole-board member years later called it “the worst kind of crime I ever saw.”
Schuett was sentenced to five years in prison in 1989 for forgery, theft and kidnapping. Now, he is back in prison again, accused of firebombing an office building in Centennial.
“He’s been charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree arson, fourth-degree arson, use of explosives – some pretty serious charges,” said Mike Knight, spokesman for the Arapahoe County district attorney.
Schuett is accused of setting off an incendiary device in the basement of the Southglenn Professional Building, at 6650 Vine in Centennial, in August. The building was badly damaged by smoke.
According to court records, Schuett was angry at his girlfriend and wanted to destroy her belongings. Schuett told a friend, after the firebombing, that “he did something really stupid,” court filings state.
Schuett and his attorney declined to comment.
In the 1980s, over seven years, Schuett befriended Merle Lewis and her sister, Gail Block. Both were in their 80s, were widowed and had an annual combined income of about $100,000 from trust payments.
The sisters trusted the former insurance salesman with their money, believing he would care for them. By the time Jefferson County Social Services got involved, Lewis had been abandoned in a nursing home in Mexico. Her sister was a hostage in her home and was seen by one of Schuett’s girlfriends crawling on the floor of the kitchen, picking up bread crumbs because she couldn’t find any food.
The sisters have since died.
“All Schuett had to do was take care of these women,” said Dennis Hall, Jefferson County assistant district attorney, at Schuett’s parole hearing in 1994. “They wouldn’t have cared if he took all their money. All he had to do was take care of them, and he didn’t do that.”
Schuett’s preliminary hearing for the arson case is set for May 19.
9News reporter Paula Woodward can be reached at 303-871-1499 or paula.woodward@9news.com.
