Charles Henry SkibbePolice in Dunlap, Tennessee, have arrested a Catoosa County, Georgia, man they say tried to exchange drugs for a handgun he planned to use to kill his ex-wife and her friend.
Charles Henry Skibbe, 56, initially was the target of a drug investigation, Dunlap Police Department Chief Clint Huth said Tuesday. Skibbe was suspected of distributing methamphetamine in the Dunlap area, the chief said.
“During the course of the [drug] investigation Detectives learned that Skibbe, a convicted felon, was also attempting to purchase a handgun,” a release on the arrest states.
That discovery launched an undercover operation involving Dunlap police, the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Police said an undercover officer began communicating with Skibbe, who said “he wanted the weapon to murder his ex-wife and her friend.” The undercover officer arranged to meet Skibbe in Dunlap on Monday evening to purchase a .40-caliber pistol.
“During the conversation, Skibbe again stated his intent to murder his ex-wife,” and also showed the undercover officer about an eighth of an ounce of methamphetamine that he wanted to trade for the pistol, police said. When Skibbe and the undercover officer made the exchange, other officers took him into custody.
TBI and ATF agents and the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, during a search of Skibbe’s home, found some drug paraphernalia and also talked with Skibbe’s ex-wife, who showed officers threatening text messages Skibbe had recently sent her, Huth said.
Huth said Skibbe’s current charges include being a felon in possession of a weapon and possession of methamphetamine for resale, but an investigation is continuing into Skibbe’s efforts to obtain the weapon to kill his ex-wife and her male friend.
“Our plan is to do some more work on the conspiracy to commit murder,” Huth said. “We feel those charges will be coming out at a later date.”
Skibbe has three known prior felony convictions; grand theft auto in Florida, and convictions in Wisconsin on charges of second- degree reckless endangerment and being a felon in possession of a weapon, Huth said.
The chief said he was “alarmed” by how eager Skibbe was to acquire a weapon and believes the quick action on investigators’ part might have prevented a tragedy.
“If this hadn’t turned out like it did, Catoosa County might have been working a homicide this morning,” he said.
Skibbe has an initial appearance Wednesday in Sequatchie County General Sessions Court.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.