Woman found guilty of killing, hiding corpse of nanny in 1999, Wisconsin cops say

A woman has been found guilty of the 1999 death of a 23-year-old whom investigators referred to as “Jane Doe” for two decades, Wisconsin cops say.

The conviction of Linda LaRoche, 66, comes nearly 23 years after a woman’s body was discovered in a cornfield in Raymond, a rural town about 20 miles south of Milwaukee, according to the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.

That woman, identified in 2019 as Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder, was the live-in nanny for LaRoche, WDJT reported. LaRoche, who recently lived in Florida, was charged in 2019 when someone called police and said LaRoche was telling people she had killed a woman when she lived in Illinois, according to WDJT.

Johnson-Schroeder’s body was found to be “badly beaten, malnourished and there was evidence that she had been tortured,” the sheriff’s office said. She also had likely had “a life-threatening infection.”

She was unidentified and went as “Jane Doe” when she was buried in a Racine County cemetery, the sheriff’s office said. The investigation went cold until forensic genealogy and interviews led investigators to identify Johnson-Schroeder.

Investigators learned she was living with LaRoche prior to her death. LaRoche was interviewed in Florida and “made inconsistent/incriminating statements” that ultimately led to her being arrested, the sheriff’s office said.

Johnson-Schroeder’s parents and sibling died, and she received help at a medical clinic, where LaRoche was employed as a nurse, WISN reported. LaRoche eventually took in Johnson-Schroeder for five years, the station said.

But during those five years, Johnson-Schroeder was burned, beaten and forced to sleep in a crawl space by the matriarch of the LaRoche family, according to WDJT.

Assistant District Attorney Diane Donohoo said during the trial that Johnson-Schroeder was beloved by LaRoche’s family and LaRoche was jealous of that, The Journal Times reported.

“She was jealous,” Donohoo said of Johnson, according to The Journal Times. “This is the classic jealous woman case.”

LaRoche was found guilty on Wednesday, March 16, of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse, according to the sheriff’s office.

The woman who found Johnson-Schroeder’s body, Megan Rios, told WISN she is “relieved” Johnson-Schroeder got justice.

“It’s unfortunate that it took this long for it to get there and that, I feel like, Linda got to live all these years of her life while Peggy didn’t,” Rios told WISN.

This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 8:19 AM with the headline "Woman found guilty of killing, hiding corpse of nanny in 1999, Wisconsin cops say."