WILLMAR, Minn.- 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-fearing that he could possibly escape or because he is already in prison for life. 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.
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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.
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.
