Christopher Davis, Cape Coral man charged with murdering boyfriend in pretrial mode

Writer: Carolina Guzman
Published: Updated:

The Cape Coral man charged with murdering his ex-boyfriend appeared in court Thursday for a pretrial conference.

Davis was present with his attorney Thursday afternoon.

According to the Cape Coral Police Department, Davis was the last person to see his boyfriend, Barry Schmalbach, on July 19 in the vicinity of Beach Parkway, where the couple shared an apartment before he disappeared.

Witnesses said they saw Davis purchase a pick-ax and a shovel and dispose of them shortly after he reported Schmalbach missing.

On June 27, Davis was booked into the Lee County Jail on 18 charges, including murder, tampering with evidence and fraud.

The following day, Davis was in court in a protective, padded suit with handcuffs on his wrists and ankles. Davis claimed that’s because he’s under psychiatric care and suicide watch.

Schmalbach’s body remains missing.

Davis was ordered held without bond ahead of the murder trial.

A follow-up pretrial conference for Davis is scheduled for 1:30 on Feb. 27.

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