Sam Louwagie

slouwagie@stcloudtimes.com

Police identified a man found dead in his St. Cloud home Monday as 66-year-old Jeffrey Eugene Schilling.

Schilling's daughter, 38-year-old Lisa May Kearney, was arrested Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky, in connection with his death. She has been charged with second-degree murder.

Property tax records show Schilling owned the house, 335-21st Ave. N, since at least 2010.

Police responded to a welfare check around 3 p.m. Monday and found Schilling dead in his home. They began searching for Kearney, whom they originally described as "missing."

Kearney had been found guilty of DWI and disorderly conduct in Stearns County in 2005.

According to the criminal complaint against Kearney, a neighbor called police because he saw Schilling lying on a couch with a blanket over his head, not moving. Police responded and saw blood pooling near Schilling's head, with blood splatter on the wall and ceiling near his body. A maul was propped against a wall nearby, according to the complaint.

Kearney was a co-resident at her father's house. According to the complaint, police established she had a "strained" relationship with Schilling. Schilling's tablet, wallet, keys and vehicle were missing, according to authorities. Kearney was not there. The neighbor told police he had last talked to Schilling, and last seen his vehicle, on Jan. 1.

The vehicle was found Tuesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Kearney was found in Louisville on Tuesday in possession of Schilling's wallet, keys and tablet, according to the complaint. She was arrested.

Kearney is currently being held in the Jefferson County Jail in Louisville, Kentucky.

Neighbors described Schilling as their "best buddy." Tom Becker said he saw Schilling almost daily, and that on nice evenings, a group of men living on the block would hang out by a fire pit in Schilling's back yard.

Greg Peterson, another neighbor, said Schilling had been a hydraulics mechanic in the Air Force for around 25 years, and then had worked at the post office in St. Cloud for about 10 years.

Before he moved to Minnesota about a decade ago, Schilling had lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, where two of his two sons still live, according to Peterson. Both Becker and Peterson said they occasionally saw Kearney around but did not know her well. Becker said Schilling was a great family man who "would do anything for his kids."

"He didn't deserve this," Becker said. "It's going to be a huge hole in the neighborhood. In the spring we'll be hanging out back here and we'll say, 'Where's Jeff?'"