An Anderson man who admitted killing his disabled, cancer-stricken neighbor has been ordered to spend the next half-century in prison, closing a case that has unnerved a quiet corner of Madison County.
A judge on Tuesday sentenced 46-year-old Tony Lee Schoettmer to 50 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty in the death of 73-year-old Jim Gaw, court records state. Gaw's body was found in a rural stretch along the Madison-Hamilton county line in June 2025, and investigators say the evidence they pulled together over the following months led straight to Schoettmer and ultimately to his plea.
Plea and sentence
According to WISH-TV, Schoettmer entered a guilty plea and received a 50-year sentence from the court. The charging documents did not hold back. Prosecutors filed two counts of murder along with felony charges of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, burglary, theft of firearms, auto theft and invasion of privacy.
Prosecutors said the case leaned heavily on surveillance footage and forensic work that was presented to the judge, a combination that gave the state enough leverage to resolve the case with the plea rather than take it to a jury.
How investigators say they found the scene
As reported by The Herald Bulletin, officers used a drone on June 23, 2025 to locate Gaw's body along a gravel drive near County Road 700 South and Atlantic Road. An autopsy later found that Gaw had been strangled, and a yellow cord was still around his neck, according to court filings.
Investigators also pulled traffic-camera footage that showed a passenger in a truck with a cord around their neck. Detectives say a similar cord turned up in a vehicle at Schoettmer's residence, a detail that has loomed large in the narrative laid out in charging records.
Victim background
Gaw, 73, was described by authorities as disabled and undergoing cancer treatment. Police said he was found wearing blue, plaid pajama bottoms and covered with three blankets, with eyeglasses and an inhaler placed nearby, according to WISH-TV. Those small details, combined with the autopsy findings, were cataloged in court records and picked up by local outlets as the case wound its way toward the plea.
The killing of an elderly, medically fragile neighbor has rattled residents in Anderson, who watched the investigation stretch from the summer discovery of Gaw's body to this week's sentencing.
What the law allows
Under Indiana law, a murder conviction carries a sentence range of 45 to 65 years, with an advisory term of 55 years. Schoettmer's 50-year sentence sits within that window. The statute also lays out how much of a sentence can be suspended and when a person becomes eligible for parole, rules that guide judges in setting fixed terms in serious violent-crime cases, according to the Indiana Code.
Next steps for investigators
Court files show prosecutors also pursued additional felony counts that remain part of the public record. Even with the plea in hand, authorities are still asking anyone with information about the case to step forward.
Anyone with tips has been urged to contact Detective Nolan Schaefer at 765-648-6714 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477, according to The Herald Bulletin.
