Adam Sheafe, who confessed to killing Pastor William “Bill” Schonemann by crucifying him in his New River, Arizona, home in late April 2025, will spend the rest of his life in prison after a Maricopa County judge accepted a plea agreement on June 5, 2026.
The 51-year-old defendant, who is representing himself, pleaded guilty to all charges including six felony counts such as first-degree murder. His formal sentencing is scheduled for August 14, 2026, when he will receive a natural life sentence. Prosecutors with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office agreed not to pursue capital punishment under the terms of the deal.
Randy Schonemann, son of the murdered pastor, participated in the hearing remotely and expressed to the court that he was “content with the natural life sentence,” bringing a measure of closure to a case that has horrified both Arizona residents and Christians nationwide.
How a Family Tragedy Changed Everything
The resolution marks a dramatic reversal for Sheafe, who spent months publicly demanding his own execution. In March 2026, he stood in court entering a “no contest” plea and insisting on the death penalty, telling the judge he was “not contesting anything” and wanted to proceed directly to sentencing. He argued that the brutality of his crime and the victim’s age made capital punishment inevitable.
But on April 8, 2026, Sheafe’s father, Chris Sheafe, and his stepmother died in a plane crash. Chris Sheafe had previously spoken to reporters about his son’s obsession with the Old Testament in the period leading up to the murder. Following the deaths, the defendant abandoned his pursuit of execution and sent prosecutors an email proposing to plead guilty to every charge in exchange for a life sentence. That proposal became the foundation of the agreement the judge approved on June 5, 2026.
The Crime That Shocked a Community
The 76-year-old Schonemann, who served as the longtime shepherd of New River Bible Chapel, was discovered in his bed in late April 2025 after the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call. Investigators found his arms stretched wide and fastened to the wall in a crucifixion-style arrangement, with a crown of thorns placed on his head.
Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan described the scene as “probably one of the most bizarre cases [I’ve] ever seen in [my] 40 years with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”
Authorities arrested Sheafe as he was allegedly preparing to murder a second pastor in Sedona. Sheafe had an extensive criminal history that included domestic violence, identity theft, and bank fraud. Prosecutors say Schonemann’s death was intended as the first in a planned nationwide killing spree targeting 14 Christian pastors and priests. Sheafe chose to begin in Arizona because it was the state where he had been baptized as a child. Investigators found multiple crowns of thorns he had made for future victims.
A Confessed Killer With No Remorse
In a jailhouse interview that surfaced in June 2025, Sheafe openly admitted to the murder and expressed no regret. He explained that he killed Schonemann because Christian pastors and priests were deceiving their congregations by teaching the New Testament. He claimed that declaring Jesus to be God violated the first commandment and that Jesus was a false god.
Sheafe told investigators he stalked Schonemann before the attack, sitting outside a Wednesday evening Bible study to identify the pastor, then following him home. He returned on Sunday to carry out the killing. In a separate interview, he stated that if given the opportunity he would “execute every single priest and burn every church to the ground” and that he wanted the death penalty to prove “you can’t kill God’s son.”
Avoiding a Prolonged Capital Trial
A previously scheduled plea hearing was postponed for more than a month after the judge ordered a competency evaluation, a routine precaution in capital cases involving self-represented defendants.
The plea deal eliminates the possibility of execution and avoids the lengthy capital appeals process that would have followed a death sentence. Given Sheafe’s expressed desire to use a trial as a public stage, both prosecutors and the victim’s family appeared motivated to prevent further spectacle.
For the members of New River Bible Chapel, the agreement ends the legal proceedings but cannot undo the loss. Schonemann was killed in the home where he studied and prepared his sermons, murdered by a man who watched him lead his congregation before deciding he deserved to die for it.
