MONTEVIDEO, Minn. - A Paynesville man charged in the homicides of his grandparents last month in Stearns County was free on bail at the time from a 2017 case after his grandfather cosigned the bail bond.
According to court documents, Thomas Bail Bonds Inc. had issued the $75,000 bond on behalf of Gregory Allen Scheel, who was charged in December with burglary, theft and escape from custody charges in Chippewa County.
The company indicated that Scheel's grandfather, Wilbert Scheel, was the sole co-signer of the bond that got his grandson out of jail.
Gregory Scheel was living with his grandparents, Wilbert Scheel, 90, and Gloria Scheel, 80, in Paynesville when they went missing three months later.
Their bodies were found March 22 in their car on a northern Kandiyohi County road and Gregory Scheel was arrested on foot about a half mile from the vehicle a few hours later.
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Scheel is charged with two counts of second-degree intentional murder and is being held in the Stearns County Jail on $3 million bail. It was announced Monday that a grand jury is being convened. Only a grand jury can consider first-degree murder charges, which carry a sentence of life in prison.
The bond company has asked the court to revoke the Chippewa County bond, according to court documents.
An omnibus hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday in Chippewa County District Court on the 2017 charges was cancelled, as well as a May 5 pretrial hearing.
Those charges stem from a December incident when Scheel escaped police custody after being questioned for a theft and was later found with a homemade weapon in a garage of a home in Montevideo.
An omnibus hearing has been rescheduled for June 7 and a pretrial is set for Aug. 13 for Scheel in Chippewa County.
