Man who built world's biggest water slide that decapitated boy charged with meth possession

A theme park owner, whose ill-fated attempt to build the world’s biggest water slide ended in a 10-year-old boy being decapitated, is now facing criminal charges for crystal meth possession.

Jeff Henry, who is already subject to a criminal case over the death of Caleb Schwab at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in August 2016, was arrested by police in Kansas on Monday.

The latest charges are possession with intent to supply methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia alleged to have taken place in July.

He also faces misdemeanour charges for possession of Xanax and buying sex.

Mr Henry, who has since been bailed after posting his $100,000 (£79,000) bond, was detained the day after he made a court appearance in relation to a second-degree murder charge over Caleb’s death.

The boy was killed on the Kansas City water park’s main attraction, a 168-foot tall slide called Verruckt, when a raft he was travelling in became airborne, forcing his head into a pole.

Court documents released as part of a grand jury indictment in March said Mr Henry concocted a scheme to build the world’s largest water slide in 2012 “on the spur of the moment”.

The indictment claims Verruckt, named after the German word for “insane”, had “violated nearly all aspects” of industry safety standards.

Mr Henry and the slide’s lead designer, John Schooley, drew up plans for Verruckt in just 36 days. Experts told prosecutors the plans should have taken around three to six months.

The pair, who possess no formal qualifications in amusement park ride design, then allegedly ran a series of crude, “trial and error” tests – flinging sandbags down the slide in a bid to solve an issue with rafts becoming airborne.

Court documents claimed Mr Schooley had even admitted: “If we actually knew how to do this, and it could be done that easily, it wouldn’t be that spectacular.”

Prosecutors allege Mr Henry considered the slide’s construction an “arms race” against other water parks and ignored continuing problems in a bid to deliver the project for its grand opening in 2014.

The indictment claimed the park owner voiced concerns about the safety of the attraction shortly before its launch, going as far as to say he was scared he could die while riding it.

“[Verruckt] could hurt me, it could kill me, it is a seriously dangerous piece of equipment today because there are things that we don’t know about it,” Mr Henry is alleged to have said.

“It’s complex, it’s fast, it’s mean. If we mess up, it could be the end. I could die going down this ride.”

The boy’s death almost two years after Verruckt opened was initially thought to be a freak accident, but Schlitterbahn employees later came forward to reveal a number of visitors had previously been hurt.

In total, 11 people suffered injuries on the slide, including slipped spinal discs, whiplash, broken toes and lacerations.

Mr Henry and Mr Schooley have both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, while the park’s director of operations, Tyler Miles, denies a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

The park began deconstruction of the slide on Monday.