Hearing Wednesday for East Dundee murder suspect
Richard Schmelzer, who is charged in the stabbing death of his 85-year-old East Dundee grandmother, is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 17, court records show.
Schmelzer, 41, was extradited from Texas Tuesday. He is being held at the Kane County jail pending a status hearing at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 305 of the Kane County Judicial Center before Judge Susan Clancy Boles.
Schmelzer was captured Aug. 25 after a three-day sting operation by U.S. Marshals, Texas Rangers and members of the Frisco Police Department in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. He was living in Frisco with his wife and four daughters.
Kane County Circuit Court Judge John Barsanti authorized bail at $5 million for Schmelzer in absentia, according to prosecutors.
He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of Mildred "Dodie" Darrington, who was found in her home July 18.
Schmelzer, a 1991 graduate of Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, lived two blocks from his grandmother's home from the time he was 2 years old until eighth grade. His family later moved to an unincorporated area near West Dundee.
If convicted, Schmelzer could be sentenced to between 20 and 60 years in prison.