If Kansas authorities do not pick up Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeffrey Wayne Henry by Tuesday, a magistrate judge will entertain granting bond.
If Kansas authorities do not pick up Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeffrey Wayne Henry by Tuesday, a magistrate judge will entertain granting bond.
Henry, 62, waived any rights to fight extradition in the 107th state District Court Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities arrested Henry Monday morning at his Brownsville home and booked him into the Cameron County jail. He faces one count of murder, 12 counts of aggravated battery and five counts of endangering a child, according to jail records.
Henry, along with a ride designer named John Schooley, are charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with reckless second-degree murder for the decapitation death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab in 2016. The child was riding a raft with two women on a 17-story water slide called Verruckt, the German word for insane, when it went airborne, the AP reported.
At the Tuesday hearing, friends of Henry packed one row in the audience chambers and were prepared to testify on the man’s behalf that he is not a flight risk.
Henry’s attorney’s have filed a writ of habeas corpus that Magistrate Judge Luis Sorrola said he will hear next Tuesday, if Kansas authorities have not picked Henry up.
“This is a Kansas case and we’re not going to have the taxpayers of Cameron County footing the bill for Mr. Henry if Kansas is the one who wants him,” Sorrola said.
Henry’s lawyer’s complained that the Schlitterbahn co-owner wears a colostomy bag that hasn’t been changed in three days, which could cause a serious infection. They said Henry has not eaten or had a drink for three days as a precaution.
Sorrola ordered the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office to take him to the doctor and get checked out immediately after the hearing.
