An individual from Illinois is facing charges for allegedly paying two individuals to shoot the girlfriend of his estranged wife in what prosecutors have described as a targeted killing motivated by personal reasons.
Sammy Schafer Jr., aged 36, has been accused of committing two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of solicitation of murder in connection with the killing of 32-year-old Portia Rowland on January 21, as reported by the Alton Telegraph.
Additionally, Marty Shaw, aged 33, and Gary Johnson, aged 45, have been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Furthermore, Johnson is facing an additional charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
“We believe the evidence at trial will show that this was not a random crime but was a calculated and cold-hearted murder-for-hire scheme based on a personal grievance,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said.
Court documents say Shaw paid Johnson, who is believed to have the trigger man, $6,500 and Shaw $3,500 to kill Rowland.
Johnson reportedly confessed to police that he was hired to kill Rowland. He said he waited in an alley for her to come out of her home that day. She did so, starting her car, then went back inside. When she returned, Johnson ran up behind her and shot her in the head. He fled, changed clothes, and went to a casino with Shaw.
KMOV reported that Schafer is the estranged husband of Rowland’s girlfriend. He and Johnson made their first court appearances on Monday.
