Cancer research scientist Uta von Schwedler was found dead in her bathtub in September 2011. Her death was initially reported as a suicide but the people who knew Uta, including her four children, knew the lively 49-year-old would not end her life. At the time of her death, Uta and her husband, pediatrician Johnny Wall, were going through a bitter custody battle. The children eventually suspected their father of killing their mother. Wall was arrested.
One year before his father’s trial, Pelle Wall — the eldest, at 20, of the four children — spent his inheritance from his mother to get his siblings – then 16, 12, and 11 – taken away from their father. Pelle feared for their lives. Pelle helped push through a state law in 2014 that protects children whose parent is the primary suspect in the death of the other parent. Pelle himself was adopted by Amy Oglesby who helped Pelle get out of his father’s house. Oglesby and her husband now have permanent custody of Pelle’s siblings. In 2015, Johnny Wall was found guilty. Pelle Wall was interviewed by 48 Hours which airs Saturdays at 9pm and 10pm on CBS.
