Pair sought in Spokane beating arrested in Illinois

Tryouts for a heavy metal band drew two Pennsylvania men to Spokane, but the only appearances they’ll be making are in front of a string of judges on attempted murder charges.

Matthew E. Fogal, 19, of Waterfall, Pa., and David W. Welsh, 21, of Rockhill Furnace, Pa., were arrested in Illinois early Thursday after the car they stole from a 73-year-old man stopped working, police said. The duo were apparently trying to return home.

They are accused of beating and shooting Richard Schumm and leaving him for dead. He was found lying in a pool of blood nearly 24 hours later at his home on the lower South Hill. His wallet and car were missing.

Schumm remained at Sacred Heart Medical Center Thursday in serious condition, a hospital spokesman said.

Authorities were relieved to hear the two men had been arrested in Joliet, Ill., about 1 a.m. Thursday, said Spokane police spokesman Cpl. Tom Lee, adding that “the fear here was what they would have done to get the next ride.”

Spokane police began investigating the beating on Tuesday morning. All detectives had to go on was a bloody crime scene, and the first names of the two men, said Sgt. Joe Peterson. By Wednesday night, they had obtained two warrants for first-degree attempted murder.

Fogal and Welsh arrived in Spokane on Jan. 5 on a Greyhound bus. They were introduced to Schumm’s housemate, William Walker, as a friend’s relatives. Walker told the men they could stay at the home where he and Schumm have lived together for 3 1/2 years.

Welsh tried out for the heavy metal band on Sunday night, Walker said.

The two young men were gone when Walker arrived home on Monday night, and on Tuesday Walker found his battered housemate in the upstairs bedroom.

Early Thursday, when the car that the suspects were driving broke down or ran out of gas in Illinois, they called 911. One of the men told a dispatcher they had been kidnapped and dumped by the side of the road, Peterson said. When deputies from the Will County Sheriff’s Department ran their names, he saw that they were wanted for attempted murder in Spokane.

Welsh and Fogal are being held in the Will County Jail. Two Spokane detectives left for Illinois on Thursday afternoon, Lee said.