Father, son murder trial wraps up second day

By John Dalton

A father and son charged with poisoning and killing a Dodgeville woman are in court this week at the Iowa County Courthouse in Dodgeville.

Two days of what's scheduled to be an eight-day trial for father Aric Way and his son Philip Schmidt-Way wrapped up for the day Tuesday afternoon. The victim was their mother and grandmother, respectively.

Both men are being tried for first-degree intentional homicide. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) reports that carbon monoxide was a contributing factor in the woman’s death. This is a Class A Felony charge and if found guilty is punishable by life imprisonment.  

By the time this paper went to print, so far attorney’s for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Edward Minser and Nathaniel Adamson, have called 14 witnesses to testify.  Defendant Aric Way is being represented by Attorney Adrian Longacre and Philip Schmidt-Way represented by attorney’s Joshua Weishaar and Russell Hanson.  The defense has called one witness to date.  

A jury of 11 men and 3 women started to hear the case which started at 2:00 p.m. Monday afternoon after a lengthy jury selection.  On July 19, 2021, the victim was found deceased in her rural Dodgeville, Wis., home. An autopsy determined carbon monoxide poisoning to be a contributing factor to the cause of death. According to the criminal complaint, the victim had recently agreed to sell the family farm, which Schmidt-Way was set to inherit upon the victim’s death. The complaint states that there were no obvious sources to explain elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the home. Mr. Way purchased products known to react together to create carbon monoxide and Mr. Schmidt-Way’s vehicle was seen on camera at the victim’s home on the night of her death. 

The trial was scheduled to resume Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m