A Wisconsin man could spend up to a decade behind bars after admitting to fatally hitting a 93-year-old retired priest with his pickup truck while distracted by Snapchat, prosecutors said.
Clay Schueffner, 26, of St. Cloud, pleaded no contest on Monday to homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle for the February 2024 crash that killed Father David H. Gau. The retired priest was crossing the street with a walker when Schueffner’s GMC Sierra struck him, sending him through the air and leaving him mortally injured.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, Schueffner initially told police he had been looking at his GPS when the collision occurred. However, investigators later discovered that he had been taking and sending “selfie” photos on Snapchat at the time.
“[Schueffner’s] phone created three images (on Snapchat), which are three different ‘selfie’ images of [Schueffner] sitting in the driver’s seat,” the complaint stated. Those images were sent to three Snapchat users between 1:39:53 p.m. and 1:40:00 p.m. — just seconds before the crash. Police said Schueffner then opened another Snapchat video at 1:40:18 p.m., a timeline that matched nearby surveillance footage showing his truck striking Gau “without braking or attempting to avoid” him.
Authorities said Schueffner never mentioned Snapchat when first interviewed by police. He reportedly told officers he worked in construction and had been driving near Froedtert Hospital at about 42 mph in a 35-mph zone. He claimed he looked down at his speedometer and GPS for about four seconds before looking up and seeing Gau too late to react.
Witnesses told police they heard Schueffner say he “looked down at [his] speedometer” and “was looking at an address and didn’t see him” after the crash. Surveillance footage confirmed that Gau had waited for traffic to clear and began crossing safely before the blue GMC truck appeared, maintaining speed until impact.
Father Gau had spent decades serving the Milwaukee community, teaching Latin and French at Marquette University High School between 1964 and 1983, where he also served as rector and minister. He later lived at the St. Camillus senior community, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Schueffner, a former Winona State University football player, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2026.