Barry Schmalbach Case: No-Body Trial, Verdict, and Life Sentence

The Barry Schmalbach case is the Cape Coral, Florida, disappearance and murder of a 56-year-old man who vanished on July 19, 2023, after a night out with his boyfriend, Christopher Gregory Davis. Davis was convicted of second-degree murder in June 2025 and sentenced to life in prison, even though Schmalbach’s body has never been recovered. It was the first no-body murder conviction in Cape Coral’s history.¹

The Night Barry Schmalbach Disappeared

Around 7 p.m. on July 19, 2023, Schmalbach texted a friend saying he wanted to end his relationship with Davis, and left a voicemail for his best friend, Miguel Angel Blanco, asking for help ending things.²³ Later that evening, the two men visited Cruisers, a Cape Coral bar, where a witness noticed they were not getting along. Surveillance footage then captured them walking back to their shared condo together.¹

Neighbors later reported hearing banging sounds as if someone were being slammed around, moaning, and three knocks followed by gasping and the words “no, no.” One neighbor heard something being dragged in the hallway with the lights out, and saw Davis standing there once the lights came back on.⁴¹

About two hours after those sounds were heard, Walmart surveillance recorded Davis paying cash for two rolls of duct tape, a tarp, and chocolate milk.⁴ Data pulled from Schmalbach’s smartwatch showed his last phone call occurred that same day, July 19.⁵ He was never seen or heard from again.

How Suspicion Fell on Christopher Davis

Davis waited three days to contact police. He called Cape Coral Police at 1:21 p.m. on July 22, 2023, but told arriving officers he was too medicated and tired to speak, so no report was completed.⁶ Blanco visited the condo that same evening, found it in disarray, and filed a formal missing persons report at 8:21 p.m.³ Police Chief Anthony Sizemore later said the “deceptive nature” of Davis’s call was what first drew suspicion.⁷

Davis told investigators Schmalbach had left in someone else’s car. Police instead determined that someone had been driving Schmalbach’s Jeep between July 20 and July 22, with the vehicle’s location pinging several times in Hendry County, roughly 80 miles inland.³⁶

On August 1, 2023, Cape Coral police arrested Davis on an active probation violation warrant from South Carolina tied to a 2013 grand larceny and credit card fraud conviction. He was extradited on August 10 and held in the Lexington County Jail.⁸³ That gave investigators time to keep building a murder case.

The Evidence That Built a No-Body Case

Chief Sizemore described the evidence collected as “massive,” gathered by Cape Coral police with help from Fort Myers police and sheriff’s offices in Lee, Hendry, and Pasco counties.⁷ On July 31, 2023, two cadaver dogs trained to detect human remains were brought in, and both alerted to the scent of human decomposition inside Schmalbach’s Jeep. Davis’s fingerprints were on the vehicle, and witnesses testified that Schmalbach never let anyone else drive it. Fabric from cleaning wipes attached to duct tape was also recovered from the Jeep and tied to purchases Davis made using Schmalbach’s credit cards.⁵

Days after Schmalbach disappeared, Davis rented an Airbnb in Hendry County under his brother’s name.⁹ After he checked out, investigators found furniture moved and unusual amounts of sand and dirt on the floor and in the bathtub.² While at the Airbnb, Davis bought a pickax and a shovel with cash and later disposed of both. The pickax was recovered from a dumpster after a hardware store employee reported it.¹⁰

Five days after Schmalbach vanished, officers observed fresh cuts and scratches on Davis’s hands, forearms, ankles, and shins.⁶ Davis said the injuries came from harnessing a cat, but a forensic technician testified that no cat or harness was found at his home.¹⁰

Financial and digital evidence filled out the picture. Davis impersonated Schmalbach on a recorded bank call to verify the victim’s debit card, then used Schmalbach’s cards and ID to withdraw cash from ATMs, pay $1,454 for a cosmetic procedure at an aesthetic medicine clinic, and shop at multiple businesses. He wore Schmalbach’s Apple smartwatch during some of those purchases and kept the victim’s wallet and watch; the wallet later turned up in a storm drain.¹⁴ Analysis of Davis’s phone revealed searches for “missing man,” “people missing out of Cape Coral,” and Airbnb listings.⁵ When an acquaintance asked about Schmalbach on July 24, Davis appeared nervous and suggested Schmalbach might have been the victim of a hate crime.

Charges, Trial, and Verdict

In January 2024, Cape Coral authorities formally charged Davis with one count of second-degree murder, one count of tampering with evidence, and nine counts of fraudulent use of personal identification of a deceased individual.⁷ He was returned to Lee County in June 2024 for trial before Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson.¹¹

Over a four-day trial, prosecutors called 40 witnesses and walked the jury through a detailed timeline of Davis’s actions before and after Schmalbach vanished.¹² The defense moved for acquittal after the state rested, arguing the evidence was not enough “to elevate a disappearance to murder.” Defense attorneys offered an alternative theory that Schmalbach could have died in a DUI crash, pointing to his history of heavy drinking and a pre-existing heart condition, and argued he had given Davis permission to use his credit cards.⁴

On June 26, 2025, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts after roughly two hours of deliberation.⁴

The Sentence

Judge Thompson imposed the following sentences, all running consecutively:

Life in prison for second-degree murder.
Five years for tampering with physical evidence.
Five years on each of eight counts of fraudulent use of a deceased person’s identification.¹²

What Happens Next

Davis filed a notice of appeal following his conviction. Schmalbach’s body has never been found. Prosecutors disclosed there had been discussions about a plea deal in which Davis might have revealed the location of the remains, but the victim’s family preferred to go to trial.¹² His family has said they will never stop hoping to recover him.⁴

1
Cape Coral Breeze. Cape Man Sentenced to Life in Prison in Boyfriend’s Murder
2
State Attorney’s Office, 20th Judicial Circuit. Life in Prison for Murder
3
Gulf Coast News Now. Man Charged With Second-Degree Murder in the Disappearance of Barry Schmalbach
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News-Press. Barry Schmalbach Murder: Christopher Davis Sentenced to Life
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News-Press. State Witnesses Point to Human Remains in Missing Man’s Jeep
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The Charley Project. Barry James Schmalbach
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News-Press. Boyfriend Charged With Murder in Barry Schmalbach Case
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News-Press. Christopher Davis Murder Trial
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WINK News. New Details Released on the Timeline of Barry Schmalbach’s Disappearance
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Court TV. Christopher Davis
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News-Press. Christopher Davis Trial Date Set in Barry Schmalbach Murder
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Court TV. Prosecutors Reflect on How They Convicted Christopher Davis