WILLMAR - Gregory Allen Scheel will not be making road trips to Willmar or Montevideo for court appearances while serving two consecutive life sentences for the murder of his grandparents.
Prosecutors in Kandiyohi and Chippewa counties have filed motions dismissing the criminal charges he faced in the two counties. The charges in the two counties are unrelated to the deaths of Wilbert, 90, and Gloria Scheel, 80, on March 21 at their home in Paynesville.
The 34-year-old Scheel pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder in Stearns County for their deaths and was sentenced on Oct. 4 to serve consecutive life sentences, or a minimum of 60 years.
After the sentencing, and before he was scheduled to return to court in Kandiyohi County on a felony theft charge, County Attorney Shane Baker filed a motion to dismiss it. In part, he cited the concern about allowing Scheel to be transported from prison to court appearances in Willmar.
"Bringing the defendant to each court hearing creates more opportunities for an escape,'' the attorney wrote in the motion for dismissal filed on Oct. 16. He noted that the two consecutive life sentences mean that Scheel would be incarcerated until he was at least 93 years old. "Therefore, in light of the foregoing and in the interests of justice, the criminal matter referred above is hereby dismissed,'' stated the prosecutor.
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Scheel was accused of stealing a go-kart valued at $1,500 from a man he knew in Kandiyohi County.
In Chippewa County, Scheel was charged with felony counts of first- and third-degree burglary, gross misdemeanor escape from custody, misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor driving while impaired. He was arrested for allegedly stealing a box off the porch of a rural farm home, but escaped while being booked in the County Jail in Montevideo in December 2017. He was found the next morning in a Montevideo garage. There, he had allegedly constructed a weapon from wood, metal spikes and an electrical cord that could be used to electrocute or stab someone.
After being taken into custody a second time, he was bailed from the jail in Montevideo by his grandfather, Wilbert Scheel.
Chippewa County Attorney David Gilbertson filed a motion dismissing the charges Oct. 11, or just before a scheduled court appearance.
"The complaint is dismissed in the interest of judicial economy since the defendant is already sentenced through Stearns County, Minnesota, and no purpose will be served going forward with a Chippewa County case,'' stated the prosecutor.
