BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The criminal complaint charging a Brockway woman with first-degree murder includes details on what happened the night of September 9. In a telephone call from jail after her arrest, Kellie Schmidt reportedly was overheard saying that the murder victim, her live-in manfriend Thomas Boettcher, “was going to set me on fire and I didn’t know what else to do.” Boetchher ended up fatally stabbed. In contrast to the overheard phone call, Schmidt has told investigators that she remembered nothing of what happened. The criminal complaint also says that deputies, responding to a 911 call, found Schmidt attempting suicide in a garage but stopped her. Schmidt’s nephew is quoted in the complaint that the couple consumed alcohol daily and fought frequently. The nephew also said that Schmidt had previously stabbed an ex-manfriend and had admitted once to poking Boettcher in the chest with a butcher knife while he slept.
