Fahrenkopf Pleads Guilty in Slaying

By Andrea Macko/ Porcupine Soup

SCHOHARIE―A former Catskill man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of a Schoharie County man.

Walter Fahrenkopf, 40, a native of Catskill now living in Fulton, was initially charged with concealment of a human corpse for his alleged role in the November 2023 shooting of Jeffrey Mickle of Middleburgh. Michael Todtschinder, 24, also of Middleburgh, was charged with second-degree murder. The Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

According to court records, Fahrenkopf appeared Monday in Schoharie County Court in front of Judge Ryan McAllister and pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and concealment of a human corpse, both felonies. Fahrenkopf was also newly charged with felony counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

Fahrenkopf was remanded to the Schoharie County Jail on Monday with sentencing tentatively scheduled for November 4, court records state.

Additional information was not immediately available prior to press time.

Mickle, 41, was last seen and reported missing on November 25, leading the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office to open an investigation into his whereabouts. On November 29, deputies located Mickle’s body in the area of Stone Store Road in Broome. According to the sheriff’s office, Mickle had been shot several times.

Todtschinder and Fahrenkopf, who were known to Mickle, were arrested by the sheriff’s office in the days following, with Todtschinder found in Dalton, Pennsylvania.

While both men were initially arraigned and remanded to the Schoharie County Jail without bail, Fahrenkopf was later released. Then, in February, McAllister ordered Todtschinder to be released because the Schoharie County District Attorney’s Office had not yet presented the case to a grand jury within the 45-day legally mandated timeframe.

The charges, however, were not dropped and a grand jury was expected to be convened this month.

At this time, the alleged motive for the murder has not been publicly disclosed.

As of Wednesday, Todtschinder is still charged with second-degree murder, as well as tampering with physical evidence, and remains released from jail.