ST. LOUIS - Gateway to a Cure's founder killed himself as a federal jury deliberated fraud charges against him. Lou Sengheiser, 58, charged with stealing $300,000 from the charity, shot himself in the chest in Gateway's offices. He was found Thursday morning.
A federal jury on Wednesday began deliberating charges that Sengheiser used Gateway funds to pay his mortgage and credit card bills. Prosecutors said Sengheiser used the charity as his personal piggy bank, diverting $300,000 into his own pockets.
U.S. District Judge Donald Stohr dismissed the jury after hearing the news of Sengheiser's death. Gateway for a Cure was designed to raise money for and awareness of spinal-cord injuries.
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