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St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, Tuesday, August 30, 1988, Five Star Edition, Page: 12B: Deceased Name: Edward W. Schneeberger - DUPO MAN IS GIVEN PROBATION IN SHOTGUN SLAYING LAST YEAR. Gary J. Hayes, 37, of Dupo, was given 2 1/2 years on probation Monday for the shotgun slaying last year of a man who Hayes testified had terrorized him and his girlfriend. A jury in circuit court in Belleville convicted Hayes last month of involuntary manslaughter. Chief Circuit Judge Stephen M. Kernan told Hayes that he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison but noted that he had no criminal record. The prosecutor, assistant state's attorney Scott Mansfield of St. Clair County, had asked for the maximum sentence. A prison sentence would deter others from taking the law into their own hands, he said. But Hayes' defense attorney, Robert H. Rice, said the jury obviously had concluded that his client had not meant to harm anyone and that Hayes had shown remorse for his actions. The victim was Edward W. Schneeberger, 36, of Cahokia. He had been divorced from a sister of Hayes' financee, Melanie Stengel. Hayes testified that he and Schneeberger had never formally met but that Schneeberger had threatened by phone to kill him and his family and had vandalized his truck and Stengel's car. Stengel testified that Schneeberger had twice come to the home that she and Hayes shared in Dupo and had threatened her while her fiance was at work. Hayes testified that on the night of the shooting he went to find Schneeberger to talk to him. Hayes said he had taken his 12-gauge shotgun with him for his own protection. But he insisted the shooting had been an accident. The shooting occurred on the parking lot outside John's Falling Springs Road Tavern, near Dupo, on Aug. 17, 1987. Hayes testified that his shotgun, held in his right hand, went off when he raised his left hand to protect himself as Schneeberger was about to attack him.

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Birth	5 Sep 1950
Military	29 Oct 1968	Age: 18; : 03/26/1970
Death	17 Aug 1987
Death	18 Aug 1987
Burial		Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Oakville, St. Louis Co., Missouri

Father	Edward Arthur Schneeberger (1924 - 1990)
Mother	Ruth Ann Schlemer (1929 - 1987)
Sibling	John Schneeberger ( - )
Sibling	Linda Schneeberger (1949 - 2006)
Sibling	Edna Marie Schneeberger (1950 - 2006)