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Details Emerge in Fatal Libby Shooting

Thomas Lawrence Veloz was allegedly shot and killed on Jan. 31 but the crime was not reported for 18 hours

By Justin Franz

Two Libby residents were arrested on Feb. 1 after police found the body of a man who had been shot and killed 18 hours earlier.

Henry Carl Schroeder, 74, has been charged with negligent homicide and tampering with evidence, both felonies, and Kimberlee Ann Patterson, 43, has been charged with felony evidence tampering following the shooting death of Thomas Lawrence Veloz, 38, of Libby.

According to authorities, Schroeder shot Veloz five times at about 8 p.m. on Jan. 31 but the incident was not reported until the following afternoon by one of Schroeder’s friends.

Shortly after 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1, 18 hours after Veloz was allegedly killed, police went to Schroeder’s home at 1305 Washington Ave. Police called Schroeder and demanded that he come outside. Police then entered the home and found Veloz’s body covered under a blue blanket with a large pool of blood near his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police placed Schroeder under arrest and got a search warrant for the home.

Schroeder was taken to the Lincoln County Detention Facility and interviewed. There he admitted that he had shot Veloz five times the night before. He also said that Patterson had been inside the home at the time of shooting.

After obtaining the warrant, police went back inside and found a .380 caliber pistol and two shell casings. Police determined that someone had removed three of the shell casings from the scene of the crime.

Two other witnesses confirmed that Patterson was at the scene of the crime during the shooting. According to news reports, Patterson was arrested south of Libby after her car slid into a ditch on the afternoon of Feb. 1.

Veloz’s body was transported to the Montana State Crime Lab for an autopsy.

Schroeder is being held on $500,000 bail. If convicted of negligent homicide he could face 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. Patterson is being held on $50,000 bail and if convicted of tampering or fabricating evidence could face 10 years in prison or a $50,000 fine.