An Arizona man was arrested this week after he returned to Phoenix nearly two months after his wife’s body was found and he was named a suspect in her murder.
Shaun Michael Schulte, 52, faces several charges, among them second degree murder and tampering with evidence, related to the death of 49-year-old Amy Jo Schulte, who was found dead in her apartment on April 6.
Schulte, who was last seen alive two days earlier, was found after police received three calls for a welfare check on her — from her boss, her mother-in-law, and a neighbor.
By the time her body was found, her husband could not be found, KSAZ reported.
In the course of the investigation, Amy Schulte’s mother, Terri Winters, told investigators that officials with the Mexican consulate called and told her that her daughter’s car had been found damaged and disabled in Mexico. Then, on May 19, a customs agent reported speaking to Shaun Schulte at Miami International Airport, where he had landed after traveling to Mexico, Colombia, and Haiti. The agent said he was heading back to Phoenix.
On May 24, Shaun Schulte was arrested in Chandler, about 20 miles outside Phoenix. He told investigators that he didn’t kill his wife and that he went to Mexico to “find himself.” He said the car was stolen while he was there.
Police said that a witness reported getting a text from Amy Schulte in March saying that her husband was physically and verbally abusive. Court documents revealed that he was convicted of aggravated assault in 2007 and sentenced to 7 1/2 years in a mental hospital. He was convicted of computer tampering in 2018.
“I knew when she told me they got married (in December 2021), something would happen. I just knew it,” Winters told KSAZ.
Schulte leaves behind a 21-year-old son, Matthew Hurd, who is said to be struggling with the loss.
“They were talking all the time, and they were planning to see each other, and she was planning to come out when he graduates next year from college, and he stole all that from Matthew,” said Matthew’s stepmother, Kristy Hurd.
Shaun Schulte is being held on a $1 million bond.
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[Featured image: Amy and Shaun Schulte/Facebook]
