Verrückt waterslide designers, John Schooley, left, and Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts co-owner Jeffrey Henry, speak in 2014 about the challenges of opening the 17-story tall attraction before its operation in Kansas City, Kan.
Posted on 04/03/2018 12:11:33 PM PDT by ETL
More here...
Waterslide designer detained over decapitation of 10-year-old boy
April 3, 2018
Murder seems like an over-reach by the prosecutors.
Negligent homicide. Maybe.
“Scott and Michelle Schwab’s son Caleb, 10, died on Aug. 7, 2016, after something went wrong when the child rode on the park’s 168-foot-tall Verruckt (German for “insane”) water slide. The Verruckt is the largest of its kind in the world.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-boy-killed-waterslide-speaks-hurting/story?id=45445546
Not going to go to a CBS web site. Seems to me murder charges are too much for a faulty design. Negligent homicide at the most, IMHO.
My guess is that murder is being used due to the allegation of hiding paperwork, plea down to negligent homicide?
Sometimes schlitt happens. Sad but it happens. Liable on a civil basis but not on a criminal basis.
At their ages, it will not make a whole lot of difference which. They’ll spend the rest of their lives in prison...................
Exactly. Murder is overreach and overkill. How about the rest of the waterpark ride patrons who used it and came out OK? Murder or weaponizing an object like the door handle which killed the ex-spy which resulted in Russian expulsions, I can agree to murder. I think the murder charges, the Schwab father had something to do with it as he is a politician, last time I looked.
I don’t get it either. Murder? I bet a jury says NYET! to that. I would, sad as the boy’s death was.
“The boy was decapitated after the raft on which he was riding went airborne. He was the son of Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab, of Olathe, and the family reached settlements of nearly $20 million with Schlitterbahn and various companies associated with the design and construction of the waterslide.
The two women who rode with Caleb suffered serious injuries and settled claims with Schlitterbahn for an undisclosed amount.
waterslide-boy-inset.jpg
Caleb Schwab and the closed waterslide Verruckt
The indictment against Miles and the park alleges that Verruckt met few, if any, industry standards and that Miles delayed or avoided necessary repairs, even after the ride’s brake system failed.
The indictment also said Henry helped design the giant waterslide even though he had “no technical or engineering credentials” and that he set a “rushed timeline” for its construction.
Schlitterbahn said last week’s indictment is “full of false information,” and the company also rejected its allegations that Miles and the company withheld information from law enforcement officials. It said the allegation that Caleb’s death was foreseeable is “beyond the pale of speculation.”
Miles’ attorneys said in their own statement that they welcome the opportunity to prove his innocence in court.
“Not only had Tyler ridden the slide numerous times, but, as the State is aware, he had scheduled his wife, to ride it on the day of the accident,” the attorneys, Tom and Tricia Bath, said in their statement.
“These are not the actions of someone who believed the ride to be dangerous.” ...”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-henry-arrest-water-park-coowner-caleb-schwab-death/
That's probably why the murder charges.
How many hundreds of thousands of people rode this slide without problems?
I’ve been on similar rides, and it sounds like speed and centrifugal force pushed a light, young boy off the main tube.
Yes, there is some design flaw and negligence, but murder is far-fetched.
Terrible situation. The only thing to be gained by prosecution may be to find out exactly what the design and construction flaws were, that made the accident more likely.
Those most at fault should be fined and disallowed to authorize this kind of construction in the future. I don’t see what is to be gained by putting this 72 y/o designer in jail. I doubt if this was malicious in any way.
I expected the charge to be involuntary manslaughter.
As other posters have said, criminal negligence may be more on point.
Anyone that “rides” one of those slides is a fool.
Maybe if the kid had ridden with his mom the additional weight would have saved his life. Is the mom is guilty of killing the kid since she didn’t ride?
There is no way they will ever get murder for this. Prosecutor is looking to make a name for himself. There was a travel channel show discussing the ride during its design. They said it had to go back to the drawing board because people were flying off of it in testing. Problem: that never actually happened in testing. It was just PR people for the ride trying to attract daredevils to the park because of how “Verruckt” it was. There were never redesigns, at all. The documentation is there and it will result in an acquittal. Prosecutor wants to rope the travel channel show, which never claimed to be a documentary, into liability as well.
There is a steep water slide at the original Schlitterbahn near where we live - though not as steep as that associated with this horrific accident. Even so, I didn't allow my kids to ride on it.
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