Husband Pleads Guilty to Murder

A man and the friend he hired to murder his wife to collect nearly $75,000 in insurance admitted the crime in a plea bargain that will spare them from a possible death penalty.

Charles Schmidt, 28, of Spring Valley and Noel Armstrong, 22, of Reno, Nev., pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy and first-degree murder charges in the slaying of Schmidt’s wife, Patricia.

Schmidt faces a maximum prison term of 26 years to life, and Armstrong 27 years to life.

Patricia Schmidt, a 26-year-old Navy nurse assigned to the Naval Hospital in Balboa Park, was fatally shot in the head June 15, 1989, while jogging with her husband about a mile from their home.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the defendants admitted planning her murder and trying to disguise her slaying as a random drive-by shooting.

Superior Court Judge Frederic Link asked Schmidt if it was true that he waited in the couple’s home for his wife to return home from work and then lulled her into a false sense of security by having sex with her before going jogging.

Schmidt answered, “Yes,” as his second wife, Anna, whom he married within four months of Patricia’s murder, sat watching in the courtroom.

The defendants also answered affirmatively when Link asked if the purpose of the conspiracy was to recover life insurance.

Schmidt collected nearly $75,000 soon after the slaying from insurance policies he had taken out on his wife, and then reneged on his promise to pay Armstrong $1,000 for killing her, according to testimony. Instead, Armstrong told investigators, Schmidt paid him only $400.

Sentencing for the two men was scheduled for Jan. 14.