COURT HOUSE – Murder charges against a Florida woman for the death of her mother, a Belleplain resident, have been dismissed.
Josephine Scheid, 38, of Sarasota, Florida, was accused of poisoning her mother, Gabrielle Michaelis, 59, to access a $90,000 inheritance, the Press of Atlantic City reported. Sheid eventually plead guilty to stealing her mother’s Bible and hindering, but other charges, including murder, were dropped.
Michaelis died Oct. 31, 2018, after a battle with stomach cancer, the Press said. Scheid was later charged for her death after investigators received reports that her death was suspicious.
Medical examiners changed Michaelis’ manner of death to homicide, and her cause of death to intoxication due to a combination of alprazolam, lorazepam and hydromorphine, the Press said.
Scheid was indicted later that year for murder, endangering, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, hindering and obstruction, the paper added.
Scheid was arrested and held in jail until September 2020, when a judge released her amid newly emerged evidence, including an analysis by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who determined that police improperly collected a blood sample from Michaelis.
“Michaelis’ system was improperly drawn because it came from her heart and not her femoral artery. He (Baden) said Michaelis died of cancer,” the Press said.
Read full story here.
