A new indictment has been handed down in Wyandotte County Kansas in connection with the death of a 10 year old boy at the Schlitterbahn water park's Verruckt water slide in 2016, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry, who was arrested in Cameron County on lesser charges on Monday, is now also charged with second degree murder.
Also named in the indictment is Henry and Sons Construction Company, which helped design and build Verruckt, and John Schooley, who is named as a designer of the ride along with Henry. The indictment says Schooley is not yet in custody. Henry remains jailed.
The first indictment also named Tyler Austin Miles, the former Operations Director of Schlitterbahn Water Park of Kansas City.The indictments were released by the Kansas Attorney General's office.
The first indictment accuses Henry of being fully aware of the dangers that Verruckt posed to the riding public, especially children, and with covering up previous injuries that had occurred on Verruckt before Caleb Schwab, who was the son of the Kansas State Representative, was beheaded on the ride.
"Henry remarked, 'Verruckt could hurt me, it could kill me, it is aseriously dangerous piece of equipment today because there are things that we don't know about it. Every day we learn more. I've seen what this one has done to the crash dummies and to the boats we sent down it. Ever since the prototype. And we had boats flying in the prototype too. Its complex, its mean. If we mess up, it could be the end. I could die going down this ride," the indictment states.
It also claims that Henry ordered Verruckt, which was billed as the tallest water slide in the world, rushed into service before it had been fully tested, do impress the producer of a reality TV show called 'Xtreme Waterparks,' a claim seized on by Schlitterbahn in its response to the latest indictments.
"This indictment, as in the previous one related to Tyler Miles, is wrought with references to the outtakes of a dramatic, scripted television show, and filled with information that we fully dispute," Schlitterbahn said in a statement. "Jeff Henry has designed waterpark rides the world over. Nearly every waterpark that exists today has an attraction or feature based on his designs or ideas.
"The incident that happened that day was a terrible and tragic accident. We mourn the loss of this child and are devastated for his family. We know that Tyler, Jeff, and John are innocent and that we run a safe operation – our 40 years of entertaining millions of people speaks to that.
"We are confident that their innocence will be proven in court where we know the facts will show this was an accident."