JAMES CLEMENT

CRYSTAL FALLS — A Crystal Falls man will spend 54 months to 15 years in prison for causing the death of an elderly man he had cared for in the home they shared.

James Oliver Clement, 72, was sentenced Monday in Iron County Circuit Court after a jury Jan. 19 found him guilty of homicide-involuntary-manslaughter and lying to a peace officer-violent crime investigation, but not guilty of second-degree murder and a different lying to a peace officer charge.

Testimony in the seven-day trial indicated 92-year-old Ralph Schuirmann, who lived with Clement for six years after previously being in a nursing home, died Sept. 26, 2021, of a brain bleed from blunt force trauma.

Iron County Sheriffs Deputy Michael Mansell said the amount of bruising on Schuirmann’s body led him to launch a homicide investigation after being called to Aspirus Iron River Hospital for an unnatural death.

In Mansell’s bodycam video, Clement can be heard explaining it was difficult to move Schuirmann and he bruised easily. Clement also said in the video that Schuirmann may have hit his head when Clement was trying to get him into a vehicle to bring him to the hospital.

During the trial, Iron County Prosecuting Attorney Chad DeRouin claimed Clement intended to harm the victim. DeRouin also said that while Clement cooperated with authorities, he could not provide a clear timeline and never directly answered questions or really explained what happened.

Clement’s attorney, Daryl Waters, described Clement as someone who would give the shirt off his back. Waters stated that Clement had taken Schuirmann out of a nursing home and into his home and cared for him around the clock, taking him as far as Marquette and Green Bay for appointments.

At Monday’s sentencing, Clement’s attorneys, Daryl Waters and Kimberly Schroder, raised issues with the scoring of the pre-sentencing investigation. The attorneys argued the scoring for the psychological impact on the victims was invalid due to the fact Clement was not able to review any of the victim’s impact statements beforehand. Other scoring issues were alleged exploitation of the victim and that Clements interfered with the administration of justice.

Iron County Trial Court Judge Donald Powell would rule against all but the exploitation of the victim issue, which lowered the PSI report down to a score of 60 but did not affect the recommended sentencing guideline of 36 to 71 months.

Schuirmann’s son, Robert Schuirmann, in a statement to the court said his father went to live with Clement against the family’s better judgment rather than move to where they are in southeast Wisconsin.

“The last thing my dad was aware of was being beaten to death by the man he loved to trust,” Schuirmann said. “I have had to seek guidance from therapists to deal with the anguish, anger and nightmares.”

Schuirmann’s wife, Francis Schuirmann, also stated she has suffered from anxiety and trouble sleeping since her husband’s death.

Schroder asked Powell to depart from the sentencing guidelines and give Clement 12 months in the local jail, saying Clement was in poor health and would not get the level of care needed in the prison system.

DeRouin said the trial had pulled the curtain back on who Clement was, taking the life of a 92-year-old man who counted on him for care — that he beat the victim in the three days leading up to his death and on the night of Sept. 25, 2021, struck Ralph Schuirmann with enough force to render him unconscious.

Before handing down his sentence, Powell said Clement may have caved under the pressures.

“I would think that the jury concluded that Mr. Clement was under a great deal of stress,” Powell said. “He had his own health issues, he was worried about where he would go after Schuirmann passed.”

Clement was given credit for 52 days already served.