The Cowboy | Lonesome Doc | S5-E5

Summary

---

Dr. Death — S5, E5: “The Cowboy | Lonesome Doc” (June 25, 2026)

Overview

In this episode of Dr. Death: The Cowboy, host Laura Beale investigates the unraveling financial, legal, and medical downfall of Dr. John Schneider—a neurosurgeon whose cowboy persona masked a history of botched surgeries, fraud, and ongoing deceit. As federal investigators and devastated families hunt for answers, the story exposes a broken accountability system where a disgraced doctor could operate with impunity, even on U.S. veterans.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Schneider’s Financial Evasion and Bankruptcy Investigation

• Opening at Whispering Winds Ranch: Bankruptcy trustee Joe Womack visits Schneider’s lavish ranch, suspecting hidden assets despite declared bankruptcy. Joe notes the extravagance, raising questions about Schneider’s claim of having “nothing left.”
  • Quote (02:19, Joe Womack): “I see somebody like that and I just say, man, you are such a dude wannabe cowboy. He’s clearly not a working rancher. Those guys don't show off like that.”
• Asset Transfers: Schneider claims his assets belong to his wife or are in trusts for his children. Womack becomes suspicious of fraudulent transfers designed to shield money from malpractice creditors.
• Fraudulent Claims and Investigations:
  • Quote (03:15, Joe Womack): “When I see something like that, that means I’ve got to make some inquiry and dig into things to see what was going on.”
• Bogus Asset Movements: Evidence emerges that Schneider transferred millions to evade incoming lawsuits, all of which Womack believes are “bogus” (06:32).
• False Testimony Under Oath: Confronted about a Harley Davidson, Schneider insists it was gifted away—but a quick call to his sister proves otherwise.
  • Quote (09:17, Joe Womack): “I said, did your brother give your husband the Harley? …He hasn’t ridden a motorcycle in years … John never gave him a motorcycle.”

FBI and Federal Criminal Probe

• Escalating Allegations: Special Agent John Teeling receives the case, noting a barrage of accusations—malpractice, defamation, tricks against colleagues, and especially financial crimes.
  • Quote (11:30, John Teeling): "There was a shitload of allegations just flying all over the place… all spun into this financial situation where he's… hiding money.”
• Prosecutor Colin Rubich: Recognizes a “bizarre pattern of behavior”, centering on persistent lying as central to Schneider’s method (13:14).
  • Quote (13:14, Colin Rubich): “This lying that he was doing was part of a bizarre sort of pattern of behavior…"
• Evading Arrest: As the legal net closes, Schneider vanishes—prompting an ongoing manhunt across multiple states.

Schneider’s New Start at the VA in Iowa

• Securing a New Medical Position: Despite massive red flags, Schneider gets hired by the Iowa City VA Medical Center after submitting a five-page disclosure letter minimizing his troubles and shifting blame (18:07-19:34).
  • Quote (18:17, Schneider’s letter): “My issues with the Wyoming Board of Medicine began with an emergency suspension because of perceived over prescribing of the drug fentanyl.”
  • Quote (19:34, Schneider’s letter): “Our faith in God and Christ, the strength of our family bond, and the irrelevance of material wealth allowed my family to persevere…”
• Overlooking Red Flags: The VA hires Schneider, apparently satisfied since he still had active licenses in Montana and Utah—even though Wyoming had revoked his credentials in highly public proceedings.

Tragedy in the Operating Room: The Case of Richard (“Rick”) Hopkins

• Surgery and Suspicion: Rick Hopkins, a beloved veteran, undergoes brain surgery by Schneider. After the operation, his sister Annette is unsettled seeing Schneider in dirty cowboy boots (22:14).
  • Quote (22:14, Annette Rainsford): “I looked down, and he had dirty cowboy boots on and no booties. And I thought, that's the doctor? Why is he wearing dirty cowboy boots?”
• Medical Decline: Hopkins suffers repeated complications, requiring four brain surgeries in a month, and eventually slips into a fatal coma (25:00-26:24).
• Family Concerns and Google Sleuthing: Annette tries to learn about Schneider online, but finds nothing—unaware he’s secretly under FBI investigation.

National Scandal: Media Exposé and Fallout

• USA Today Investigation: Journalist Donovan Slack contacts Rick’s family, confirming Schneider’s dark history is about to break nationwide.
  • Quote (28:33, Donovan Slack): “It’s him.”
• Public Outrage: Headlines escalate to national scrutiny of the VA’s hiring practices, revealing systemic issues across multiple hospitals employing disgraced clinicians.
  • Quote (29:16, Annette Rainsford): “Why would you hire him? I just can’t… No one should have hired him.”
• Other Victims Emerge: Marine veteran Anthony French, another patient, reads the news and questions his own worsening health (30:41). A new scan shows his brain tumor was never removed—contrary to Schneider’s blatant assurances.
  • Quote (32:18, Anthony French): “He said he never removed anything and I said, well, Jesus Christ, it’s even grown.”

Administrative Damage Control

• VA’s Response: The hospital points to months of vetting and references, but cannot adequately explain hiring a doctor with a revoked license—insisting the presence of “other licenses” sufficed (34:08).
  • Quote (34:40, Annette Rainsford): “They never answered it. I can’t get past the fact, why? Why would you hire someone that had their license stripped?”
• Medical Review and Settlement: The Hopkins family sues; an independent expert concludes Schneider’s care fell below accepted standards and likely cost Rick his life. The VA settles but does not admit wrongdoing (35:29).
• Policy Changes: Amid scandal, the VA promises internal reforms to prevent similar hiring errors.

Schneider’s Final Downfall and Arrest

• On the Run, Then Captured: After years of deceit, Schneider is finally tracked by FBI agents and arrested after attending church in California (37:08).
  • Quote (37:08, John Teeling): “Finally, you know, enough of this. Accept responsibility and apologize for what you’ve done and throw yourself at the mercy of the court.”
• Attempted Rebranding: Even as he faces prison, Schneider releases videos recasting himself as misunderstood and spiritually renewed (37:51).
• Prosecutorial Determination: Colin Rubich and the legal team are steadfast in ensuring Schneider faces full accountability.

---

Memorable Quotes

• Joe Womack on Schneider’s cowboy persona (02:19):
  “You are such a dude wannabe cowboy… He’s clearly not a working rancher.”
• John Teeling on the scope of accusations (11:30):
  “There was a shitload of allegations just flying all over the place… spun into this financial situation where he’s got some judgments against him and he needs to hide money.”
• Annette Rainsford on trust and appearance (22:14):
  “I looked down, and he had dirty cowboy boots on… Why is he wearing dirty cowboy boots?”
• Anthony French on the magnitude of malpractice (31:44):
  “Holy crimini. What the hell’s going on? He had 14 or so other malpractice lawsuits against him.”
• VA administrator on ‘vetting’ (34:08):
  “Anytime we hire somebody with any type of lawsuits, we check into everything. We check references...”

---

Key Timestamps

• 00:00–03:30: Womack’s first impressions of the ranch and initial asset suspicions
• 06:32–10:41: Womack exposes Schneider’s deceptive transfers and false statements under oath
• 11:15–13:42: FBI Special Agent Teeling and Prosecutor Rubich strategize criminal charges
• 17:09–19:44: Schneider applies for work at the Iowa VA, omitting critical details
• 20:59–26:24: The tragic case of Rick Hopkins, under Schneider’s “care”
• 28:33–32:46: USA Today exposé and Anthony French realizes Schneider never removed his tumor
• 33:12–34:54: Families confront VA officials on failed vetting policies
• 37:08–37:31: Schneider is finally apprehended by federal agents

---

Episode Takeaways

This episode paints a disturbing picture of institutional failures and a charismatic, but dangerously unethical, surgeon exploiting loopholes to continue operating—literally and figuratively. Through rich testimonies and investigative reporting, Dr. Death: The Cowboy asks hard questions about medical oversight, the long shadow of malpractice, and how vulnerable patients are when the system itself is broken.

---

For more, listen to “Dr. Death: The Cowboy” on Audible, and stay tuned for the final chapter of Dr. Schneider’s story in the next episode.

Transcript

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Dr. Death, the Cowboy early and ad free. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app or by subscribing on apple podcasts. About 12 miles north of Cody, where Heart Mountain rises above open farmland, a lone car wound its way toward a secluded ranch. Over the entrance, a pinewood arch carried the name Whispering Winds.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

It's got this huge log cabin. Everything's in good shape. He's got a huge full size riding arena that's a separate building.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

A lawyer named Joe Womack followed the long drive to the house, passing hay fields and a well stocked pond.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

You could see the fish rising around the pond, so you could just go stand on the bank and take your little fly line and stick it out there and catch some trout.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

But Joe hadn't come for the fishing. He was there because John Schneider had declared bankruptcy. It had been a year since Schneider had been stripped of his Wyoming medical license, and now more and more of his former patients and their families were pursuing him for malpractice. The bill was potentially in the millions. Joe had been appointed by the court as the bankruptcy trustee to assess the scope of Schneider's wealth.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

He was claiming that he just didn't have the ability to pay any of his debts, that he didn't have any assets.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Yet here was his home, replete with a riding arena and a fishing pond. As Joe parked his car, Dr. Schneider came out to greet him.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

He's got a nice couch, cowboy hat on, and his duster that goes all the way down to the ground, and he's got his cowboy boots on. I see somebody like that and I just say, man, you are such a dude wannabe cowboy. He's clearly not a working rancher. Those guys don't show off like that.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Dr. Schneider played the gracious host, walking Joe around, pointing out the crops he'd planted in the fields. Then he showed him. Joe took photos of the wooden furniture and dining room set. He was hoping he might be able to sell them to pay Dr. Schneider's debts. But Dr. Schneider told him that the furniture wasn't his to sell.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

He tried to claim it was all owned by his wife.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

The same went for the ranch itself. Schneider didn't technically own that either. He had transferred it into a trust for his children. Back at the office, Joe began digging through the vast mountain of paperwork detailing Dr. Schneider's financial affairs. It wasn't easy to untangle. Joe reckoned that at one time, Schneider had been worth as much as $17 million. But not anymore. At least not according to these papers

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

that made me very suspicious. When you see something like that, When I see something like that, that means I've got to make some inquiry and dig into things to see what was going on.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

The more Joe dug, the more questions he had. Schneider didn't. From multimillionaire to penniless Overnight, it seemed pretty clear to Joe that he was shielding his assets. And the timing caught his eye because Dr. Schneider's money had been vanishing at exactly the same time as everything else in his life was falling apart.

[Leon Neyfakh (Co-Creator of Slow Burn and Fiasco)]

Foreign.

[JBL/Capital One Advertiser]

With JBL Live headphones, you'll lose yourself in your favorite music. In fact, you can get so immersed we had to add a few disclaimers while listening With JBL Live headphones, do not start twerking in your office break room. Do not begin line dancing at the dmv, and do not practice your moonwalk while crossing a busy intersection. Or if that sounds like a good time, then go ahead. Just don't say we didn't warn you. JBL Made to be Heard Find your [e-mail] with the Spark Cash plus card from Capital One. You earn unlimited 2% cash back on

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

every purchase and you get big purchasing

[JBL/Capital One Advertiser]

power so your business can spend more and earn more.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

From audible originals I'm laura beale and this is Dr. Death the cowboy. This is episode five Lonesome Doc. Joe Womack, the bankruptcy trustee, worked on building the timeline of Dr. Schneider's financial transactions in 2011, the same time that Schneider had been dueling Dr. Nowadsky, he was anxiously emailing his accountant. He wrote, I am concerned almost daily with my liability exposure as a neurosurgeon and with the frequent bloody battles between contentious providers in the region? I want to maximize my asset protection. Is it worth opening an account outside of the country in an extradition free environment like Nevis or the Caymans? We don't know the accountant's response, but pretty soon Schneider began transforming millions of dollars worth of assets into entities owned by his children. By December of that year, everything began to fall apart. First, Russell Monaco died and Dr. Schneider's license to practice was suspended. Then Jimmy Biles sued him for defamation. Quickly, Dr. Schneider's remaining money and assets began to start flying around in a complicated web of trusts and companies, all owned by different members of his family. Legitimate estate planning, Schneider said. Joe wasn't buying it, so I believed

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

that all these transfers were bogus. He did it strictly to keep them away from creditors. And then when he goes to zero, files bankruptcy and says I got nothing, give me a discharge. I Just didn't believe it.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Although his family wasn't suspected of wrongdoing, it looked like Dr. Schneider was hiding his money to avoid paying the very patients he was accused of. Of harming. And Joe realized the pattern went even further. When Schneider had to make a list of everyone he might owe money to, he didn't stop with the people already threatening to sue him. He included seemingly every person he'd ever operated on in Wyoming and Montana.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

Not because they had sued him or had, in fact, made a claim against him, but he was looking to prevent any other people from. From suing him in the future.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

For Joe, the suspicion was undeniable. Schneider wasn't just shielding himself from current lawsuits. He was trying to avoid any further claims. On a chilly winter's day in Billings, Montana, Joe Womack watched as Dr. Schneider settled into his seat.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

Dr. Schneider, would you please raise your right hand? Do you solemnly swear or affirm that testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

[Dr. John Schneider]

I do.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

They were there for a formal meeting, an opportunity for Dr. Schneider's creditors and their lawyers to ask him questions under oath. Joe started running through all the entities and assets connected to Schneider. It was a long list. Properties, land, bank accounts, and vehicles. And then one particular vehicle caught his attention.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

There was a Harley Davidson motorcycle that you indicated was gifted in 2002 to your brother in law.

[Dr. John Schneider]

Correct.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

Okay, so you have not had possession of it, nor has it been in. You haven't had possession of that since 2002?

[Dr. John Schneider]

Well, I've been able to use it periodically, but I'm a neurosurgeon, so I tend to shy away from motorcycles. But it's. It's not mine.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Something didn't quite add up.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

Does he ride it out here and then you use it, or how does it come to be that you use that motorcycle when he's in California and until recently, you've been in Montana and Wyoming?

[Dr. John Schneider]

He has ridden it out here, and he has periodically left it here and periodically brought it back to California.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

All right.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Joe casually moved on to other questions, but Schneider's answer stayed with him.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

I'm very suspicious of that. It doesn't sound like it was legitimate to me.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Joe called up Schneider's sister.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

I said, did your brother give your husband the Harley Davidson motorcycle? And she said, are you kidding? My husband was in a horrible motorcycle accident some years ago. He hasn't ridden a motorcycle in years. He can't ride a motorcycle. John never gave him a motorcycle.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Joe almost couldn't Believe it. All it had taken was one phone call to find Schneider apparently lying when he was sworn to tell the truth.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

The guy's stupid. I mean, he obviously has a certain level of smartness, of brilliance, you know, but when it came to making up a lie, he was just stupid. So at that point, I know he's a liar. I know that I can't trust anything he says anymore. And so that's a reason for me to start digging deeper into everything that he tells me.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Joe asked her about another large asset Schneider had supposedly gifted to her. There was a country home outside of Billings. Schneider said he gave it to his sister as payment for some administrative work. But now, when Joe pressed his sister, she admitted that half the proceeds from the sale of the house went straight back to Schneider. When she tried to give him his share, he told her to put it in a bank account in her name, not his. But he kept a hold of the

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

ATM card that was clear bankruptcy fraud, you know, that was taking assets that belonged to the bankruptcy estate that should have gone to creditors and trying to use it for his own personal benefit.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

To Joe, this was all money that should have gone to patients and families. So when he filed his report with the relevant authorities, he didn't hold back.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

He's committed fraud. He's stolen from bankruptcy estate. And when they get that, then they go through the process and investigate things to see if they find anything further.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Soon enough, the case landed on the desk of special agent John Teeling at the FBI field office in Billings. As he read through the background, it became clear this wasn't a normal bankruptcy case.

[John Teeling (FBI Special Agent)]

I don't mean to be vulgar, but there was a shitload of allegations just flying all over the place. In this case, you had an allegation of a doctor that killed somebody. You had allegations of a doctor that maimed someone. You had allegations of a doctor that tried to destroy the practice or reputation of other doctors. So you had all these issues, personality conflict, vindictive behavior, threats, all the spun into this financial situation where he's got some judgments against him and he needs to hide money.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

The accusations spread out in every direction, following John Schneider as he crisscrossed from Montana to Wyoming and back. For Teeling, the question was, where to start.

[John Teeling (FBI Special Agent)]

I couldn't spend two years just unraveling everything he did. I couldn't. And that's why I took the most readily provable criminal act right in my backyard.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

A financial crime in his jurisdiction in Montana. So Teeling reached out to a federal prosecutor. He often worked with Colin Rubich.

[Colin Rubich (Federal Prosecutor)]

John would call and say, hey, I've got something that I think is worth our time. And I said, okay. What do you got?

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Teeling laid out the case how Schneider was a doctor who'd had his license stripped for overprescribing medication, which had led to the death of a patient and was accused of injuring others. Despite denying any wrongdoing, he'd paid millions of dollars settling a defamation lawsuit brought against him by another doctor. And now it looked like he was lying and hiding his assets.

[Colin Rubich (Federal Prosecutor)]

This was isolated, you know, this lying that he was doing was part of a bizarre sort of pattern of behav. I mean, he's lying and lying and lying.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

By the end of the call, Colin Rubich was in.

[John Teeling (FBI Special Agent)]

You hate to say it, he screwed with the wrong people. It's like, now you did it. It looks like you finally crossed the line. You finally went one step too far, and this is your day of reckoning.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

They heard Dr. Schneider was holed up near San Diego, so Rubich and Teeling took their time before making a move, including lining up testimony from Schneider's own sister. By June of 2017, they were ready. An indictment was issued, and a court summons was sent to Dr. Schneider's address in California, but he had vanished.

[John Teeling (FBI Special Agent)]

God damn it. The son of a bitch didn't show up for court. I gotta drop everything, find out where the hell I think he is.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

An arrest warrant went out. The local FBI was asked to help with the search, and still they couldn't find him. Back in Montana, prosecutor Colin Rubich was at a loss.

[Colin Rubich (Federal Prosecutor)]

It's been easier for me to find drug dealers than this guy. Why haven't we found them?

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

The answer was simple. They were looking in the wrong place. He wasn't in San Diego. He wasn't even in California. He was more than 1800 miles away in Iowa City. Back in the operating room,

[Leon Neyfakh (Co-Creator of Slow Burn and Fiasco)]

I'm Leon Naifak, best known as the co. Creator of Slow Burn and Fiasco. I had, of course, heard of OnlyFans, but always with a distant and quiet skepticism. A silent judgment, you might say. Who is actually using this platform?

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Um. I am.

[Gracie Kanan (OnlyFans Creator and Comedian)]

Hi, I'm OnlyFans creator and comedian Gracie Kanan.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

I work from home now.

[Gracie Kanan (OnlyFans Creator and Comedian)]

I'm on OnlyFans. And in case you guys don't know what OnlyFans is, ask your husband.

[Leon Neyfakh (Co-Creator of Slow Burn and Fiasco)]

My journalistic curiosity got the best of me when I found out that my own sister had started an OnlyFans account.

[Gracie Kanan (OnlyFans Creator and Comedian)]

I'm not his sister. Sister.

[Leon Neyfakh (Co-Creator of Slow Burn and Fiasco)]

Just to clarify, it turns out a lot of what I thought I knew about OnlyFans was wrong.

[JBL/Capital One Advertiser]

I felt like I wasted 3.5 years

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

for something that wasn't real.

[Gracie Kanan (OnlyFans Creator and Comedian)]

What happens when connection comes with a price tag? Listen to OnlyFantasy wherever you get your podcasts or binge all episodes of Only Fantasy ad free right now only on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Audible Advertiser]

Whether you're exploring your current fascinations or discovering new ones, Audible has all the stories that'll introduce you to your most fascinating self. Tap into a whole new world of heated conversations with a saucy Romantasy series, become your friend group's sci fi expert on the latest blockbuster book to screen adaptation, or find unexpected reveals through the exclusive episodes of a viral true crime podcast. However you choose to listen, Audible keeps you fascinated so you can be just as fascinating all in one easy app. With plans now starting at $8.99, you'll get access to over 1 million audiobooks and podcasts, including trending bestsellers, the hottest new releases, and exclusive podcasts you won't find anywhere else. Sign up now to become a member and get any audiobook every month, plus exclusive podcasts. Plans now start at $8.99. Audible be fascinated, Be fascinating.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Eight months before the arrest warrant was issued, Dr. Schneider had been charting a new course. He was hired by a cadaver lab teaching spinal surgery by demonstrating surgical techniques on dead bodies. But then something caught his eye. A veterans hospital in Iowa was looking for a surgeon. Even though he'd lost his medical license in Wyoming, he still had licenses in Montana and Utah, at least while his appeal in Wyoming was still playing out. So Dr. Schneider dusted off his resume and submitted an application to the Iowa City VA Medical Center. The form required him to disclose the loss of his Wyoming license as well as any other outstanding legal problems. So he included a five page letter explaining his complicated record. His words are read by a member of our production team.

[Dr. Schneider's Voice (Production Team Member Reading Letter)]

My issues with the Wyoming Board of Medicine began with an emergency suspension because of perceived over prescribing of the drug fentanyl.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Dr. Schneider said Russell Monaco's death was the fault of his physician assistant, and he claimed that medical boards in Montana and Utah had looked at the same evidence.

[Dr. Schneider's Voice (Production Team Member Reading Letter)]

Physicians, with the guidance of their lawyers, reviewed the evidence and concluded that I did nothing wrong when we asked him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Dr. Schneider declined to provide evidence for this. In fact, his license in Montana was revoked at a later date and the one in Utah was allowed to expire. But that wasn't the only scandal that Dr. Schneider needed to explain in his application to the VA, there was also the small issue of his bankruptcy. He was, he wrote, the victim of a violent, unanticipated, and malicious attack.

[Dr. Schneider's Voice (Production Team Member Reading Letter)]

I and my family were raked over the coals, accused of fraud and lying and concealing assets.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Now, he said, it was all behind him. He wrote that he and his family

[Dr. Schneider's Voice (Production Team Member Reading Letter)]

had been unable to defend ourselves for access to funds and under great coercion that nearly cost me my marriage and faith. A settlement was reached that allowed us to close this chapter in our lives.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

He claimed that he had found a new perspective on the true meaning of life.

[Dr. Schneider's Voice (Production Team Member Reading Letter)]

He said, although these lawyers do everything in their power to drive a man into the dark abyss, our faith in God and Christ, the strength of our family bond, and the irrelevance of material wealth allowed my family to persevere and continued on unfractured.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

We don't know what the hiring team at the hospital made of all this. At this stage, there were no criminal charges, so they wouldn't have known about the FBI investigation. But if the VA had looked up Schneider's record at the Wyoming Board of Medicine, and surely they must have, they would have found the order stripping him of his license, the one that found Schneider's defense to be, quote, not credible or believable, the reddest of red flags. But 12 weeks later, a letter arrived in the mail with an answer. Dear Dr. Schneider, congratulations. Welcome to the Iowa City VA Healthcare System. Dr. Schneider would now be operating on US veterans. Less than four months later, Annette Rainsford was in a waiting room at the Iowa City va, anxiously waiting for word about her brother Rick.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

You want to know how are things going? Is it okay? Did they find anything else?

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

He'd been undergoing an operation on his brain, and it had been four hours with no news.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

You just don't know what they're going to find.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Rick Hopkins was a former army vet in his mid-60s. He loved animals, and after leaving the army, he got a job at the local zoo. When that shut down, he worked on a dairy farm. At lunchtime, he'd go to the local tavern in his muddy boots and drink a dirty martini with two olives. On this day at the hospital, Dr. Schneider came out to see his family.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

We're all huddled around, you know, like football players to the coach. And he explained to us that it was larger than he thought, that everything should be okay and that the first 48 hours were crucial and that everything went very well. We were hanging on every word that he said, and, you know, we were hugging each other, and my sister was crying, and it's a cry of relief.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

But like so many others before her, Annette noticed something different about what Dr. Schneider was wearing.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

I looked down, and he had dirty cowboy boots on and no booties. And I thought, that's the doctor. Why is he wearing dirty cowboy boots?

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

So she decided to confide in one of her brothers about it.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

And my brother goes, well, Annette, I think he's just trying to make us think he's normal like us. Well, we're not normal, but he's trying to make us feel comfortable with his demeanor and wearing those boots.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Dr. Schneider believed the surgery to have been a quote, resounding success. But then Richard's recovery took a sudden turn.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

They said he was bleeding in his brain.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Three days after the surgery, Richard's daughter, Amy McEntire, got a call. It was Dr. Schneider saying that the

[Amy McEntire (Richard Hopkins' Daughter)]

bleed had gotten larger and they have to go back in and do a revision.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Amy couldn't understand it. She asked the staff, how could this happen?

[Amy McEntire (Richard Hopkins' Daughter)]

And you get the answer of, this is sad, but it's not an unexpected post surgical complication.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

But Richard's sister Annette, still wasn't so sure about Dr. Schneider.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

I couldn't get past the dirty cowboy boots, and I didn't trust him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

She tried asking the nurses in the icu.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

They said, no, they know nothing about him because he. He's new.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Then one day, she was with her sister when she saw Dr. Schneider making his way down the hall.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

We followed him down. We weren't acting like secret agents or anything like that. We were just slowly walking and keeping an eye on him. And you know what? He started walking faster. And I was afraid we're going to lose him. And with the same boots on, the same ones he had in surgery, the

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

two women followed the sound of Dr. Schneider's boots into the staff parking area. Peeking from behind a pillar, they saw him hop onto a motorcycle.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

I thought, why would someone that treats people with head injuries or neck injuries or any injury be riding a motorcycle? I couldn't understand that.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

As Dr. Schneider put his helmet on, Annette edged out far enough to see the back of the bike.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

I saw the license plates. Okay, Iowa. She's got Iowa plates.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Once she got back home, she began furiously googling.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

Start looking. John Schneider, Iowa surgeon, neurosurgeon. Nothing. I was researching Indiana surgeons, Illinois surgeons, Missouri, still couldn't find him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

To Annette, Schneider seemed to have appeared in Iowa City out of the blue. She had no idea that he was being investigated for fraud by the FBI. Meanwhile, Richard's health got worse. He developed a lung infection and was placed on a ventilator. A CT scan revealed that the bleeds on Richard's brain had dramatically increased. So Dr. Schneider operated again and then again to tackle more complications. After four brain surgeries in less than a month, Richard slipped into a coma. Even this, as Amy saw it, did not seem to trouble Dr. Schneider.

[Amy McEntire (Richard Hopkins' Daughter)]

Schneider was still coming into the room saying, oh, no, he's going to be fine. He's going to be fine. He just needs to go to rehab for a little bit. He's going to come out of this fine.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

But Amy was a nurse herself. She knew Richard wasn't coming back. In a care conference, the family made the agonizing decision to end life support. His sister Annette entered his hospital room to say one last goodbye.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

The girls were sitting around him. Amy was always listening to his heartbeat, and the other two were on the other side. They're holding his hand, you know, stroking him, tell him they loved him. And, Rick, we love you so much. I'm so sorry. What else could I say? You know, what can I say? And you know, right now, I wish I could just walk into that tavern with him and have a martini, shaken, not stirred. He'd say,

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

Oh, r.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

After Rick passed away, the family packed up his things and went home brokenhearted. His deterioration had been so sudden, the number of complications so overwhelming, they struggled to make sense of it. They assumed it must have just been an unavoidable tragedy, the kind of thing that can just sometimes happen. It was just before Thanksgiving in 2017, and Annette was getting ready to leave for work when her phone rang. It was her husband.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

He said, annette, somebody called from USA Today and they want to talk to you. I said, what? He goes, yeah, it's concerning your brother Rick. I said, I wonder what for. That's weird.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

On her way home, she called the journalist Donovan Slack.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

She said, annette, I said, yes. Richard Hopkins, sister. I said, yes. And she said, I found your brother's obituary, and he was in the armed services. I said, yes. Then he had brain surgery. And she said, can you tell me who his surgeon was? I said, john Schneider. And I heard her go, it's him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Finally, Dr. Schneider could no longer outrun his past. On December 3, 2017, USA Today published the story about Dr. Schneider. The headline read, VA knowingly hires doctors with Past Malpractice Claims Discipline for Poor Care. Annette scrolled through the USA Today article in disbelief. Her brother's surgeon had seen his license stripped.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

That should have been A red flag right now. Why would you hire him? I just can't. I still can't get over that. I cannot get past that. No one should have hired him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

And Dr. Schneider was just one. There were others too. A VA hospital in Oklahoma knowingly hired a psychiatrist previously sanctioned for sexual misconduct who went on to sleep with a patient. In Louisiana, a VA clinic hired a psychologist with felony convictions. The VA ended up firing him after they determined that he was a direct threat to others. Yet even in this company, the story of John Schneider stood out. The piece also included quotes from some of Dr. Schneider's former patients in Montana and Wyoming. They painted a picture of a doctor who had been accused of repeatedly harming his patients and still been hired. Quickly, the story snowballed into a national scandal.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

Former Iowa Veterans affairs hospital doctor was hired despite having multiple lawsuits of malpractice against him.

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

This after USA Today report says multiple

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

VA hospitals across this country went against

[Joe Womack (Bankruptcy Trustee)]

hiring standards, hiring doctors despite claims of substandard care.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Word began to spread among former patients.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

My sister actually called me up and she said, did you see the USA Today article and Dr. Schneider? I said no.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Marine veteran Anthony French was at his home near Cedar Falls, Iowa when he read the news.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

Holy shit, what did they do to me? Maybe this is why I've developed these headaches.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Back in the summer, Dr. Schneider had operated on him to remove a tumor at the base of his brain. But for months afterwards, the headaches had gotten worse. Anthony told Schneider about it at his

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

follow up appointments and he kept saying, that's normal. You just had major brain surgery. He said it's going to take a year, year and a half.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Anthony says that Dr. Schneider told him there was no need for a follow up mri.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

He said, I removed everything. There's not a scintilla of it left.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Now for the first time, Anthony realized that he'd put his life in the hands of a surgeon who never should have been allowed back in an operating room.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

Holy crimini. What the hell's going on? He had 14 or so other malpractice lawsuits against him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

It would take another three months before the VA finally gave him a follow up mri. When he walked into the exam room to get the results, he found the new doctor already waiting.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

He had two computer screens up and he just looked up at me and shook his head. I said, don't tell me it's growing back.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

The surgeon walked Anthony through the two scans, one from before the surgery and the other taken that morning.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

He said he never removed anything and I Said, well, Jesus Christ, it's even grown.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Anthony says the surgeon told him he should have had an MRI within 30 days of the operation. There didn't seem to be a plausible medical reason for him not to have been given one.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

I said, so you're telling me he didn't do the MRI because he knew he didn't remove the tumor? And he said that's exactly what he did.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

When we asked Dr. Schneider about Anthony, he described the accusations as baseless and that he didn't recall Anthony. Meanwhile, Amy and Annette were searching for their own answers. Two months after the USA Today article broke, they sat down for a meeting with hospital administrators.

[Dr. Schneider's Voice (Production Team Member Reading Letter)]

I seek this opportunity since I'm sure you quit.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

Quite a bit of questions Amy recorded on her phone, which she placed in the middle of the table.

[Amy McEntire (Richard Hopkins' Daughter)]

I guess my biggest concern along these lines is, you know, how did it happen anyway? How was Schneider hired with such a string of questionable medical issues? The relocation of his license, I mean, that's blatantly against the law.

[VA Hospital Administrator]

Well, actually, yeah. So step back a bit. The USA Today reportedly added revocation of his state license in Wyoming. Two other state licenses.

[Amy McEntire (Richard Hopkins' Daughter)]

Yes.

[VA Hospital Administrator]

So he was okayed by national office of Everything to hire him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

The VA administrator told Amy and Annette that the fact that Dr. Schneider still had licenses in Montana and Utah was good enough for the head office in D.C. to greenlight his appointment. And they believed they had vetted Dr. Schneider thoroughly.

[VA Hospital Administrator]

Anytime we hire somebody with any type of lawsuits, we check into everything. We check references. I had probably five to six references on him regarding his patient care. So no, anybody who has any type of lawsuit at all. A surgeon that we hire does raise red flags. And it was months of going through all these things before we hired him.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

But that still didn't explain why they'd hired someone who'd had their license revoked. The non answer didn't escape Amy and Annette.

[Annette Rainsford (Richard Hopkins' Sister)]

They never answered it. I can't get past the fact, why? Why would you hire someone that had their license stripped? That's just the bottom line right there, isn't it? That's everything.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

We asked Dr. Schneider about Richard Hopkins case through his lawyer. He denied any wrongdoing. He told us that he thinks Amy and Annette have been, quote, misled into believing that Dr. Schneider provided substandard care to Richard simply because his license had been suspended and, and or the bankruptcy case. A fulsome review of the medical records here would indicate that Dr. Schneider was not negligent in this man's death. He added that at no time was Dr. Schneider ever accused of medical malpractice in Richard Hopkins care. But the Hopkins family saw it differently. They sued the government. As part of that suit, a neurosurgeon conducted an expert review of Richard's medical records. In his opinion, Dr. Schneider's treatment fell outside the standard of care, and he concluded that it was probable that Richard would have survived if the VA had properly vetted Dr. Schneider. The case was settled without admission of wrongdoing. Unlike the Hopkins family and Anthony French, the VA knew who Dr. Schneider was. They knew he'd been found culpable in the death of a patient, and they'd hired him anyway. In a statement, they told us that the VA has instituted policy changes to prevent similar hiring mistakes in the future. When they heard the USA Today story was going to come out, they moved to fire Dr. Schneider. He resigned soon after. By then, he had even bigger problems. When he traveled back to his house near San Diego, an FBI agent had been keeping watch. The agent tailed Schneider to a local church. As he emerged from the service, they moved in. Dr. Schneider was put in handcuffs and placed in the back of a car. Word quickly got back to Special Agent Teeling.

[John Teeling (FBI Special Agent)]

The agent calls me and says, I just picked him up and taken him to the lockup. My reaction is, finally, you know, enough of this. Accept responsibility and apologize for what you've done and throw yourself at the mercy of the court.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

With his name splashed across the national press, Schneider's medical career was over. He was facing bankruptcy, fraud charges, and up to five years in prison. But Dr. Schneider wasn't finished yet. He was trying to reframe his own narrative, including on video.

[Anthony French (Veteran Patient)]

Well, hello there.

[Dr. John Schneider]

Thanks for coming. Coming over. I'm Dr. Schneider.

[Narrator (Laura Beale)]

To the outside world, he was recasting himself as a man both misunderstood and transformed. But prosecutor Colin Rubitsch was determined to make sure that he didn't get away again. That's coming up next on the final episode of this season of Dr. Death. Listen to Dr. Death the Cowboy on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of Dr. Death the Cowboy early and ad free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. This has been an Audible original. I'm your host, Laura Beale. Executive producers are Russell Finch and Marshall Louie. Our senior reporter is Zachary Stouffer. Tom Wright is our senior producer. Our associate producer is Mohammed Ahmed. Joe Wheeler is the senior story editor. Senior development producer is Rachel B. Doyle. Our production manager are Cherie Houston and Sarah Mathis. Our associate director of production is Latha Pandya. Fact checking by Jacqueline Colletti. Sound design and mixing are by Nicholas Alexander and Mark Pittam. Sound supervisor is Marcelino Villapando. Music supervision by Scott Velasquez for Frison Sync. Production services provided by Novel Executive producer for novel is Max o'. Brien.