Suspect's 2 Murder Trials to Remain Separate: Anne Arundel Court

ANNAPOLIS, MD — A man facing trial for the murders of two women about four years apart will have separate trials in order to keep information at one from prejudicing jurors in the other case, a judge has ruled. Anne Arundel County prosecutors had sought to have Christopher Allen Scheibe, 28, with no fixed address, tried once for the deaths of a Brooklyn Park woman and an Essex woman.

Authorities say Scheibe killed Holly Smith, 24, of Essex, whose body was found behind a Parole business district near Annapolis Mall in June 2016. Scheibe faces charges of first- and second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault in Smith’s death; she was stabbed multiple times.

Scheibe is also charged in the 2012 murder of Jessica Lee, 20, of Brooklyn Park. She was reported missing May 8, 2012, and was last seen in the 5700 block of Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park. In August 2012, Lee’s decapitated remains were found behind a Pasadena shopping center.

Anne Arundel County and Maryland State Police took Scheibe into custody on June 2, 2016, in East New Market on the Eastern Shore and he reportedly confessed to homicide detectives that he killed Smith. He has ties to southern Maryland and on the Eastern Shore.

Before the judge ruled against the prosecution Wednesday, Assistant Public Defender Tiffany Holley argued the witnesses for the two cases is not mutually admissible, a requirement if the trials were to be consolidated, reports The Capital-Gazette. The attorney said the only evidence the cases share is Scheibe's reported confession.

Prosecutors say surveillance footage shows Scheibe walking away from the scene of Smith's death. Smith’s remains were found in the wooded area in the 2000 block of Industrial Drive in Parole behind Premier Fitness gym by a person walking in the area. Police said last summer that Scheibe had long been a person of interest in Lee's death. Her remains were found Aug. 6, 2012, in woods off Ritchie Highway in Pasadena, behind what is now a Planet Fitness and was then an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet. Lee died from multiple stab wounds

As detectives investigated Smith's murder, they again asked Scheibe about Lee’s murder, and he admitted to killing her, authorities said. The second murder charge was filed Aug. 29.

Police believe Scheibe may be involved in other violent crimes; he uses aliases and has often told people that he is with the U.S. Special Forces. Anyone with more information about Scheibe and other crimes is asked to call the county’s tipline at 410-222-4700.

Lisa Marie, who told Patch in 2012 that she was one of Lee's best friends, said Lee had a then 1-year-old daughter.

"The last time I talked to her was the day she went missing," Marie said in 2012. "She said she was going to a party, but I don't know what kind of party it is."

»Photo of Christopher Scheibe, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police