The Arizona dad who killed himself as a substitute of serving many years behind bars after leaving his 2-year-old daughter to bake to loss of life in a sizzling automotive was rumored to be having an affair with the married girl subsequent door, neighbors advised police.
Christopher Scholtes, 38, was discovered lifeless in his SUV contained in the storage of his Phoenix house round 5:20 a.m. on Nov. 5, the identical morning he was resulting from report for a 20- to 30-year jail sentence for the homicide of his daughter, Parker.
He had pleaded responsible final month to second-degree homicide and intentional little one abuse.
Dr. Erika Scholtes, his anesthesiologist spouse, had defended him for greater than a yr after the tragedy and backed his bail and journey requests, whilst prosecutors ready to ship him away.
Neighbors, although, advised cops they believed Scholtes was getting near another person: 37-year-old gross sales government Katelyn Schacht, who lived subsequent door.
Incident stories reviewed by the Each day Mail present a number of residents describing a “particular relationship” between the 2 and saying the neighborhood had a “frequent consensus” the pair had been having an affair.
Neighbor Michael Kramer stated Scholtes’ younger daughters typically escaped from the home and wandered the streets and that Schacht “had many tales” concerning the children getting free.
One other neighbor, Kristine Verdugo, advised police she doubted Schacht could be sincere with investigators due to her ties to Scholtes, whereas resident Sarah Godsil stated neighbors typically needed to kind “search events” when the kids or pets obtained out whereas Scholtes was sleeping “or one thing else occurs.”
Godsil added that Schacht ceaselessly excused his habits and that some believed “one thing was occurring.”
Police interviewed Schacht and her husband hours after Parker’s loss of life. She advised investigators Scholtes’ older daughters got here to her door crying and stated their mom was performing CPR.
“Mommy and daddy are calling 911 and mommy is giving her CPR,” one woman stated, in line with the report.
Scholtes is believed to have died of carbon-monoxide poisoning, although the trigger hasn’t been formally confirmed, the Maricopa County health worker advised the Each day Mail.
His loss of life got here sixteen months after Parker died in a July 2024 warmth wave when he left her strapped contained in the household Acura for greater than three hours.
Courtroom information say he spent the afternoon inside ingesting stolen beer, watching pornography and taking part in video video games whereas temperatures exterior hit 108 levels.
Scholtes advised investigators he misplaced monitor of time whereas gaming and ingesting. Surveillance footage confirmed he left Parker within the SUV shortly earlier than 1 p.m., and she or he was discovered unresponsive by her mom after 4 p.m.
The temperature contained in the automotive hit 108.9 levels when first responders arrived, in line with the Pima County Medical Examiner.
Textual content messages in police information present Erika Scholtes confronting her husband about ingesting, alleged drunk driving and what she known as a worsening sample of reckless habits.
“You haven’t proven me you possibly can cease placing the ladies at risk or not deal with me badly,” she wrote in a textual content change on March 11 of final yr.
After Parker’s loss of life, she texted him once more in anger: “I advised you to cease leaving them within the automotive. What number of instances have I advised you?”
“Babe, I’m sorry,” he replied. “Babe, our household. How might I do that? I killed our child, this may’t be actual.”
The couple’s two older kids later advised police their father typically left them alone within the automotive, in line with the stories.
His 17-year-old daughter from a earlier marriage alleged in a lawsuit filed days earlier than his loss of life that he’d been leaving her unattended in autos for hours since she was “youthful than 7.”
Which means Scholtes had been leaving his children in vehicles for greater than a decade earlier than the habits lastly turned lethal.
Schacht and Erika Scholtes couldn’t be reached for remark.
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