Thomas Bruce, 53, of Imperial has been charged with first-degree murder and 16 other felonies in connection with the shooting death of Jamie Schmidt, 53, of House Springs at a Catholic Supply Store, 14069 Manchester Road, in the Ballwin area on Monday (Nov. 19), St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said at a press conference today.
Bruce was arrested this morning (Nov. 21) at his home in the 3300 block of Geranium Drive in Imperial, according to a report from the St. Louis County Police Department.
He also is charged with three counts of first-degree kidnapping, three counts of sodomy or attempted sodomy in the first degree, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution and eight counts of armed criminal action, McCulloch said.
He is being held this evening at the St. Louis County Jail without bond, the police reported.
McCulloch said Bruce allegedly entered the store Monday pretending to be a customer and left, supposedly to get a credit card, and then returned to the store with a handgun and “herded everyone into the back room and committed these horrible acts.”
According to the probable-cause statement, Bruce held Schmidt, who was a customer in the store, and two other women in the store at gunpoint, forced them to disrobe and then ordered the three victims to perform deviant sexual acts.
When Schmidt refused, Bruce allegedly shot her in the head, the report said.
After the alleged shooting, Bruce reportedly continued to force the other women to perform sex acts and then fled the scene.
McCulloch said police received hundreds of leads in the case.
Police Chief Jon Belmar said canvassing and re-canvassing the area, along with a tip, helped break the case.
“We received additional information that led us to an individual and then led us to an area where the arrest was made,” he said.
Police did not have a picture of the suspect, but they had a good description of his distinctive clothing, Belmar said.
McCulloch said the defendant allegedly tried to get rid of the clothing but “didn’t do a very good job of it” and police found it. The attempt to discard the clothing resulted in the tampering with evidence charge, McCulloch said.
Belmar said he had spoken with the Schmidt family to express condolences, and detectives have kept the family apprised of developments in the case.
He said detectives worked “tirelessly” on it.
McCulloch said there is a lot of evidence in the case, but a lot of it still needs to be tested. DNA testing has not yet come back, he added.
McCulloch said the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office could seek the death penalty for the first-degree murder charge.
“Aggravating circumstances are certainly there,” he said.
However, McCulloch said that decision probably wouldn’t happen until next year, when St. Louis County will have a new prosecuting attorney.
McCulloch was defeated in the Democratic August primary by Wesley Bell, who ran unopposed in the November general election.
When officers arrived at the store on Monday, they found Schmidt suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to an area hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, a report from police said.
A crowd filled the St. Anthony Padua Catholic Church in High Ridge Tuesday evening (Nov. 20), when a Mass was held to remember Schmidt and comfort the parish.
Schmidt, a member of the church, was married and a mother of three children.