Contractor Charged With Manslaughter In Truckee Carbon Monoxide Deaths

TRUCKEE (CBS13) — A licensed contractor accused of doing sub-par work is being charged in the carbon monoxide deaths of two people.

Albert Sentazimore, 60, and Gary Trovinger, 57, were found dead inside a home on Weisshorn Avenue in October from an apparent carbon monoxide leak.

Now police say the contractor who worked on Trovinger's home, Kurt Schoemig, was responsible for that leak.

"It's very unusual for something like this to occur, and an unfortunate death in the process," said Melanie Bedwill with the Contractors State Licensing Board.

Unusual, according to the CSLB, but something that can happen.

In this case, Schoemig, owner of Truckee's Cedar Ridge Builders, has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

According to investigators, Schoemig left the work before it was complete, but before he had a worker cut a heater exhaust pipe in the home, filling it was carbon monoxide.

We stopped by Cedar Ridge Builders to look for him, but were told he wasn't in.

Meanwhile, the CSLB says his major misstep was not getting a permit for the work, which would have had the work looked over.

"That will trigger an inspection, and then the work will be verified, and these kind of situations won't occur," he said.

It's unclear if anyone else who did work on the house may be charged.

The CSLB is recommending Schoemig's license be revoked and reminds everyone who is working with a contractor to see a permit for work before allowing it to begin.