The Nurse Who Murdered Her Nanny and Dumped Her Body in a Cornfield
By: Fatim Hemraj
Tags: Justice, True Crime, Crime, Murder, History

On July 21, 1999, at six in the morning, a man was walking his dog on 92nd street in Racine County when he came across the dead body of a female wearing black sweatpants and a men’s grey shirt with a floral print lying on the edge of the cornfield. The unknown woman, who would be referred to as Racine County Jane Doe for the next two decades, had been horrifically beaten.

She had suffered several severe physical injuries including; a deformed left ear (similar to a ‘cauliflower ear’), broken ribs, head trauma, a broken nose, swollen eyes and a split lower lip. There were several abrasions, burns and lacerations throughout her entire body.

Racine County Jane Doe was severely malnourished. Her body was covered in road rash suggesting she had been dragged from a vehicle. Her left elbow, knees and feet were infected due to untreated injuries. The injuries to her ear, nose and head were determined to be fresh injuries sustained shortly before her death. She also had ribs that were healing as well as freshly broken ribs.

Her cause of death was Sepsis Pneumonia as a result of infections sustained from long-term abuse. She was only twenty-three-years-old.

Racine County Jane Doe’s gravestone. Source.

Over fifty people attended Racine County Jane Doe’s funeral. For the next two decades, investigators worked hard at identifying the poor woman. Her body was exhumed several times and various composites and facial reconstruction images were released to the public in the hopes someone would recognize her. Unfortunately, no one had reported the woman missing. The case went cold for the next two decades.

Racine County Jane Doe. Source.

Racine County Jane Doe. Source.

On September 23, 2019, authorities received a tip that would reignite the entire investigation. The caller claimed she had overheard a woman tell several people she had killed a woman in Illinois — twenty years prior. That woman was Linda LaRoche.

Linda LaRoche was a registered nurse and the owner of Guardian Correctional Care Inc., a jail medical company provider in Bull Valley, Illinois. Linda’s company had several high-profile government contracts with various counties to provide medical care for inmates which paid her $18,000 per month. A sheriff of DeKalb County in Illinois stated he had met with Linda several times regarding business matters and had never noticed her exhibit odd or suspicious behaviour.

Linda LaRoche and her ex-husband. Source.

Linda consistently donated large amounts of money to various charities and organizations. Her Facebook page was riddled with posts of her boasting about her good deeds and photos of her family. Ironically, Linda even made a post criticizing the outcome of Casey Anthony’s murder trial— a woman who infamously got away with the (alleged) murder of her two-year-old daughter:

“The most troubling part of the Casey Anthony case is the short amount of time the jury took to find her ‘not guilty’……there had to have been compelling reasons for that…now I am upset with my self for not realizing this sooner, do I believe she is not guilty? I can’t say that but I do believe that the circumstantial evidence sucked…like the tattoo that they said meant that she was happy for her freedom…come on ..talk about b.s….”

With Linda’s so-called giving nature and her chosen field of occupation, no one would ever have guessed she would be capable of such a brutal and heinous murder.

Following the tip, investigators began interviewing Linda’s now-adult children who said a young woman named Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder had lived with them from 1994 to 1999 before suddenly vanishing.

Investigators discovered that when Peggy, a cognitively impaired high school senior was 18-years-old her mother Diane had suddenly died, leaving her homeless. Since her father and brother were already deceased, Peggy had nowhere to go and found herself wandering the streets looking for help.

It was then Peggy stumbled upon McHenry Medical Centre where she met nurse Linda LaRoche. Linda was aware of Peggy’s mental incapabilities and dire situation. She invited Peggy to live at her McHenry Illinois home with her now ex-husband and their three children.

In exchange, Peggy would become the LaRoche family housekeeper and nanny. It seemed to be the perfect solution for Peggy and she agreed.

What Peggy didn’t know at the time was that Linda wasn’t the gentle, caring woman many believed her to be. She was a monster disguised as a nurse who would abuse Peggy for the next half-decade before dumping her dead bruised body in a cornfield.

Linda’s children told investigators they repeatedly witnessed their mother severely abuse Peggy; she would scream at Peggy, slap and punch her in the face during bouts of rage, stab her head with a pitchfork and yank her around by her ears. Peggy was forced to sleep in a crawlspace underneath the house and was rarely ever fed. Linda’s children said she treated her like an animal.

Investigators also interviewed Linda’s ex-husband who corroborated his children's’ claims and called Linda a ‘force to be reckoned with.’ When asked about the last time he saw Peggy, he described arriving home one evening and seeing her lying on the ground unconscious. Linda told him Peggy had overdosed.

In reality, Peggy had finally succumbed to years of abuse by Linda.

Linda’s ex-husband said she asked him to take the children out for ice cream so she could deal with the situation. Linda returned home two and a half hours later without Peggy and he never saw her again.

Linda was immediately detained and brought in for questioning. She admitted Peggy had lived with the LaRoche’s for five years and that she had abused her. She justified her actions by claiming Peggy had stolen from her and brought strange men into the home.

Linda claimed that on the day Peggy went missing, she had arrived home to find her lying on the ground unconscious next to an empty pill bottle. Linda stated that Peggy regained consciousness, but by this time she was already fed up with her and decided to drop her off at a local restaurant in the care of her grandmother.

Of course, Peggy’s grandmother said she had never met Linda. Additionally, Peggy’s autopsy did not show any drugs in her system, contradicting Linda’s story. When investigators confronted her with the many inconsistencies in her story, she admitted she had left Peggy in a rural area, but claimed she was uninjured at the time, and that, “something must have happened to her after” she dropped her off.

They didn’t buy it.

Linda LaRoche. Source.

On November 5, 2019, 64-year-old Linda LaRoche was officially arrested and charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a corpse. She faces life in prison. Many counties have already terminated their contracts with her business and she also faces a drunk-driving charge from 2019.

Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder at her Homecoming. Source.

On November 8, 2019, Racine County Jane Doe was officially identified as Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder with the use of familial DNA testing. She was re-buried on March 4, 2020 — her birthday, next to her beloved mother in Belvedere, Illinois. Peggy’s classmates described her as the sweetest girl who always had on a smile, and could never hurt a fly.

Twenty years later, Peggy finally got her name back.

Sources: Wikipedia, Heavy, CTV News, Racine County Eye, Gen Why Pod, The Journal Times, My Racine County