Charity Founder Accused Of Fraud Kills Himself

The founder of a charity who faced federal charges in a fraud case was found dead in an apparent suicide, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said Thursday.


A jury in St. Louis was deliberating the fate of Lou Sengheiser, charged with 22 counts of mail fraud. When he did not show up in the courtroom Thursday, several people began looking for him. His body was found Thursday morning on the roof of the headquarters of the charity, Gateway to a Cure. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest, Hanaway said. He had been accused of using more than $300,000 in charity funds to pay his home mortgage and credit card bills, prosecutors said. He allegedly used the U.S. mail to move charity money to pay his own bills.


Sengheiser, 58, of Imperial, founded a charity in 1996 to raise money for spinal cord research, after his son became paralyzed following a fall at home in 1994.


The charity raffled off houses and luxury cars -- including a raffle for a house at the National Golf Course in Parkville -- but prosecutors argued he used money from raffles in Missouri, Illinois and Florida for personal use.

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