Appeals court rules man convicted in fatal 2004 shooting outside Arpin tavern can argue for reduced sentence

MADISON – A former Arpin man sentenced in 2005 to a lengthy prison term for fatally shooting another man outside a tavern will get a chance to prove that his sentence should be reduced due to advancements in treating PTSD, a state appeals court ruled.

According to the 23-page opinion issued Thursday:

Robert M. Schueller, now 73, a Vietnam veteran, pleaded no contest to second-degree intentional homicide after fatally shooting Forrest G. Vruwink, 24, on July 25, 2004, outside the LA Bar and Grill in Arpin.

Portage County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Flugaur, who served as a substitute judge in the Wood County case, sentenced Schueller to 25 years in prison followed by 15 years on extended supervision. Flugaur concluded that since Schueller would always have post-traumatic stress disorder, which at the time was considered incurable, he would always be a danger to the community.

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In 2023, Schueller’s attorney Matthew Pinix and Joseph Riepenhoff, of Milwaukee, asked Marathon County Circuit Court Judge Rick Cveykus, who is serving as a substitute judge in the Wood County case, to convert Schueller’s sentence to only extended supervision. The attorneys said that since Schueller’s sentencing, treatments for veterans with PTSD have been proven effective, some at a 92% rate. That constitutes new information and warrants a new sentence.

A doctor for the defense said that the highly effective therapy isn’t available through the Wisconsin Prison System and that Schueller should receive the therapy at the VA Medical Center on an outpatient basis.

The state attorney general’s office opposed releasing Schueller from prison contending that it wasn’t enough that new treatments could reduce or resolve PTSD symptoms of being quick to anger and exhibiting a violent temper. Instead, the office said the new therapies weren’t relevant to the objectives of the sentence, which were to protect the community and the seriousness of the offense.

Cveykus agreed with the state and without holding a hearing, found that the controlling reasons for the sentence was “the seriousness of the offense” and “punishment of the offender,” which are irrelevant to the availability of new PTSD treatments.

The District IV Court of Appeals disagreed, concluding that if PTSD in veterans can be treated and even cured on an outpatient basis, it would be “highly relevant to the imposition of Schueller’s sentence.”

The District IV court concluded that Schueller may have received a shorter sentence if Flugaur had known that PTSD could be cured through advanced treatments and Schueller wouldn’t remain a perpetual danger to the community.

The appeals court also said that the state “misses the mark” in arguing that the effectiveness of the treatments are irrelevant to protecting the public and punishing the defendant.

Instead, Flugaur premised the sentence on Schueller’s PTSD always making him a danger to the community, but based on the advancements in PTSD treatment that assumption is no longer correct, Appellate Judge Rachel Graham wrote.

Schueller’s attorneys and a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office weren’t immediately available for comment on Monday.

In returning the case to Cveykus, the appeals court said it was within his discretion to hold a hearing to determine whether Schueller had proven his claims.

This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Court: Man convicted in fatal Arpin shooting can argue for reduced sentence