KSNT 27 News

Murder charges could hinder Schlitterbahn’s debt repayment

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A lender is warning investors that criminal indictments stemming from the decapitation of a 10-year-old boy on a slide at a Kansas water park could hurt owner Schlitterbahn’s chances of repaying a $174.3 million loan balance.

The Kansas City Star reports that EPR Properties issued the warning Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Kansas City-based real estate investment trust holds the mortgage on the Kansas attraction. The filing said the March indictments could hurt attendance at Schlitterbahn’s water parks and “may negatively impact the likelihood of repayment.”

The indictments name Texas-based Schlitterbahn, its co-owner Jeff Henry, the construction company that built the 17-story Verruckt slide and two other people. The most serious charge is second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Caleb Schwab.