Investigators have cause to think Robert Schwartz’s murder was premeditated when he was discovered dead at his house in 2001. They were soon directed to Clara Schwartz, his youngest daughter, who appeared to be at the centre of it all.
‘The Perfect Death: The Devil Made Me Do It,’ a documentary on Investigation Discovery, examines how Clara persuaded three other people to assist her in the murder of her father. So, how about we find out what happened to her?
Recommended: Robert Schwartz Murder Case
Clara Schwartz, Who is She?
Clara was the youngest of Robert’s three children, with a brother and sister older than her. She was a computer science major at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, at the time of the incident.
Clara and her pals were questioned by the authorities after they learned of Robert’s terrible murder. Katherine Inglis, one of them, offered a wealth of information about Clara’s role in the murder.
Clara and Katherine met in high school, while the former was in her senior year. Clara frequently complained to Katherine about Robert reportedly poisoning her food, physically beating her, and pulling her underwater in their pool, according to Katherine.
According to Katherine, Clara wished for her father’s death and discussed the money she would inherit if this happened. Then, in August 2001, she started dating Patrick House, who would later testify against her in court.
Clara and Patrick met in June 2001 at a festival in Leesburg, Virginia, according to Patrick. Clara, he said, devised the Underworld fantasy role-playing game, in which he played an assassin and a bard.
In the same game, there was also an Old Guy character that represented Robert. Patrick claims that Clara asked him to kill Old Guy, and he initially mistook it for a gaming request. But it became evident afterwards that she wanted to kill her father in real life.
Clara also gave Patrick her journal entries in which she discussed Robert’s alleged abuse and efforts to poison her, according to Patrick.
Clara had directed him to a chapter in a book about herbal poisons in order to disguise Robert’s death. While Patrick never carried out the plan, she quickly found Kyle Hulbert, a guy with a history of mental instability, to assist her.
Recommended: Boxer Eddie Leal Murder Case – Where Is Manuel Guzman These Days?
What Happened to Clara Schwartz?
Clara first said she thought Kyle was kidding when he mentioned killing Robert during questioning. She eventually changed her mind and stated, “I want to go straight.” “I knew [Kyle] was going to kill [my father] in my heart of hearts.”
The defence contended that Kyle was not expected to take Clara’s statements literally because they were part of the game during Clara’s trial in October 2002.
Clara was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and two charges of solicitation to commit murder by a jury in the end. “It’s been nothing but a nightmare since the first day I found out,” Michele, her sister, said in court.
It was difficult enough that my father was murdered, but now my sister had committed such a heinous thing.” Clara was sentenced to 48 years in prison in February 2003, when she was 20 years old.
She is still being held at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia, and is set to be released in 2043.