A 25-year-old Anson man has been indicted on manslaughter charges in an accident that took the life of two people in Embden in February.

The results of blood tests on the man charged in the case, and a search of a cellphone found in his car, have not been made public.

Mark Schobel, of Anson, was arrested Thursday night after being indicted by a Somerset County grand jury in the deaths of Ruth Souweine, 67, of Bangor and Jennifer Nile, 22, a passenger in Schobel’s car, according to court documents. He is charged with two counts of class A manslaughter.

On Feb.27, Schobel was driving east on Route 16 in Embden at around 4:30 p.m. and had just passed another vehicle not involved in the crash when he hit a Subaru Outback driven by Souweine’s husband, Leon Souweine, according to an affidavit filed by Lt. Carl Gottardi of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

Nile was pronounced dead at the scene. The other three people were taken to Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan and later transferred by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where Ruth Souweine died of her injuries three days later. Schobel was described in the affidavit as badly injured.

Less than two years before the fatal crash, Nile’s brother and her son’s father died in separate accidents over a two-week period.

Advertisement

While at Redington-Fairview, Schobel was interviewed by police and said he had been driving at a speed of 70 mph as he passed the car in front of him, according to the affidavit. The speed limit in the area is 50 miles per hour.

He said he swerved to avoid the oncoming car, but the car swerved in the same direction and the two collided in the breakdown lane.

Schobel also told an EMS technician treating him at the hospital that he had four beers before driving. A police search of the car revealed a bottle of Canadian LTD Whiskey, a marijuana pipe with residue in it, an unopened bottle of Bud Light and an empty bottle that had shattered in the crash, according to court documents filed by Detective Matthew Cunningham of the sheriff’s department.

The results of a blood alcohol test administered to Schobel on the night of the accident and cellphone records from an Android phone found during a search of his car tare not being made public, according to District Attorney Maeghan Maloney. She said the investigation is ongoing and may go to trial.

A class A manslaughter charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Schobel was released from the Somerset County Jail on $5,000 cash bail Friday morning, according to a booking officer at the jail. He is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 12. As conditions of his release he is not allowed to use or possess alcohol or drugs and is subject to random search and test for alcohol or drugs.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @rachel_ohm


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.