An Illinois man has been charged with hiring two men to gun down his estranged wife’s girlfriend last month in what prosecutors called “a personal grievance” killing.
Sammy Schafer Jr., 36, was charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of soliciation of murder in the death of 32-year-old Portia Rowland on January 21, the Alton Telegraph reported.
Marty Shaw, 33, and Gary Johnson, 45, were charged with two counts of first degree murder. Johnson was also charged with 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.
