46-year-old gets for 50 years for murder of man who was disabled, battling cancer

ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) — An Anderson man who pleaded guilty to the murder of a man who was disabled and suffering from cancer was sentenced Monday to 50 years in prison.

A missing-person investigation in Anderson turned into a homicide case after a body was discovered June 23, 2025, near the border of Madison County and Hamilton County, police said.

Three days after the body of Jim Gaw was found, Tony Lee Schoettmer was formally charged with two counts of murder, a high-level felony count of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, and other felony counts of burglary, theft of firearms, auto theft, and invasion of privacy. Schoettmer is now 46.

With the help of a drone, authorities found Gaw’s body in a rural area near the intersection of East 146th Street/Madison County Road and Atlantic Road. That’s a few miles from the I-69 interchange for Campus Parkway in Noblesville and Southeastern Parkway in Fishers.

Court documents say Gaw was known to live out of his white GMC truck.

Schoettmer had told i...