Father allegedly obsessed over killing 5-year-old son for a week before child’s murder

Inset: Matthew Gerald Schleier (Linn County Sheriff

Inset: Matthew Gerald Schleier (Linn County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The house where Schleier allegedly killed his son (Google Maps).

An Iowa father strangled his 5-year-old son to death after entertaining thoughts of killing the child for about a week prior to the violence, police in the Hawkeye State say.

Matthew Gerald Schleier, 45, stands accused of one count of murder in the first degree, according to Linn County Sheriff’s Office records.

“His dad strangled him,” the boy’s mother allegedly told first responders at the scene of the crime in the immediate aftermath.

Schleier then allegedly admitted as much when a nearby officer asked him if his wife was correct, according to law enforcement.