The trial begins for the former professional clown accused of murdering his daughter in 1991

A Milwaukee man long suspected of killing his infant daughter more than three decades ago will appear in court to be charged in her death.

Ronald Schroeder, 55, who formerly worked professionally as Silly the Clown, was charged three years ago in the 1991 death of his one-month-old daughter Catherine.

His trial begins Monday in Milwaukee. Jury selection is expected to begin tomorrow morning in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Swanson’s courtroom.

Schroeder faces two charges: first-degree reckless homicide and physical abuse of a child.

Catherine Schroeder died on August 25, 1991 from what doctors said was shaken baby syndrome.

Schroeder was investigated for her death in 1991. He was also investigated for allegedly abusing a friend’s son in 1998 and another daughter in 2005.

In 2008, he was convicted in Waukesha County of sexually assaulting a girlfriend and taking numerous nude photos of her while she was asleep or unconscious. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2008.

Police arrested Schroeder in the death of his daughter in August 2021.

The criminal complaint in the 1991 death of Catherine Schroeder does not reveal any newly discovered evidence. It only alleges that on June 30, 2021, then-Milwaukee County Medical Examiner Brian Peterson reviewed Catherine’s autopsy and concluded she died from blunt force trauma and determined the manner of death was homicide.

Schroeder’s attorneys tried to have the case dismissed in 2022, citing the delay and a prosecutor’s 1999 letter saying he would not charge Schroeder. A district court judge later denied the request.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trial begins for former professional clown accused of killing his infant daughter in 1991