Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 unrated
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Adam Sheafe confessed to murdering Pastor Bill Schonemann, 76, at his New River home in late April 2025, posing the body in a crucifixion pose.
- A plea deal accepted in June took the death penalty off the table in exchange for a life sentence, and sentencing was scheduled for Friday afternoon.
- Sheafe had planned to kill roughly 13 other religious leaders and was caught after a manhunt spanning Cave Creek and Sedona.
- The shift toward a plea deal followed the death of Sheafe’s father and stepmother in a plane crash in Marana earlier this year.
Where they differ
- AZFamily includes graphic detail from its own jailhouse interview with Sheafe, quoting his stated motive and description of the killing.
- AZFamily details the manhunt and burglary attempt near Sedona’s Chapel of the Holy Cross more extensively, including the car theft and crash during the police pursuit.
- ABC15 focuses more on the legal timeline — the self-representation filing, the attempted no-contest plea in March, and Judge Patricia Starr’s role — and includes a direct quote from Schonemann’s son Randy about the plea hearing.
- AZFamily adds a personal detail about Schonemann’s hobby restoring old planes with his son, which ABC15 does not mention.
Adam Sheafe, who confessed to murdering New River pastor Bill Schonemann and admitted planning to kill more than a dozen other religious leaders, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday afternoon in Maricopa County. Under a plea agreement reached this summer, Sheafe pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and a string of other charges, avoiding execution in exchange for spending the rest of his life in prison.
What did Sheafe actually do?
Sheafe admitted to driving from Phoenix to Schonemann’s New River home around 2 a.m. on a Sunday in late April 2025, where he killed the 76-year-old pastor and posed his body in a crucifixion position with a crown of thorns. Schonemann, leader of the New River Bible Chapel, was found dead in his bed on April 28, 2025, covered in blood. Sheafe told Arizona’s Family in a jailhouse interview that he was targeting “pastors” and “shepherds leading the flock astray,” and said he intended to kill 13 more Christian leaders across states including Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Alabama and Texas.
After killing Schonemann, Sheafe headed to Sedona, where court documents say he tried to burglarize a home near the Chapel of the Holy Cross. He then stole a car from a woman in Cave Creek, crashed into another vehicle while fleeing police, hid at a remote campsite, and briefly escaped into the national forest before being captured following a statewide manhunt two days after the murder.
How did the case move from a death-penalty push to a plea deal?
Sheafe, who chose to represent himself, initially pleaded not guilty to the murder along with charges of car theft and multiple home break-ins in northern Arizona. He had originally told reporters he wanted the death penalty and had already confessed to the FBI. Court proceedings dragged through late 2025 and early 2026 — he filed to represent himself in December, then attempted to plead no contest in March 2026, prompting Judge Patricia Starr to schedule a follow-up hearing to consider a change of plea.
The turning point, according to prosecutors, came after Sheafe’s father, Chris Sheafe, and stepmother died in a single-engine plane crash in Marana earlier this year. Following their deaths, Sheafe emailed prosecutors asking to plead guilty to all charges in exchange for a life sentence instead of execution. A judge accepted that deal in June. The final agreement includes charges such as kidnapping and attempted murder, with sentencing terms set to run both concurrently and consecutively.
What has Schonemann’s family said?
Pastor Bill’s son, Randy Schonemann, told ABC15 that hearing Sheafe take clear responsibility in court — rather than the ambiguous statements seen in earlier video appearances — felt reassuring, calling it a step toward “final justice.” Randy is expected to attend Friday’s sentencing. Family members have described Schonemann as someone who loved restoring old airplanes, often working on them with his son.
What do we know about Sheafe’s background?
Chris Sheafe, speaking to Arizona’s Family before his own death, said his son had a long history of substance abuse and what he called an “obsession” with the Old Testament. Sheafe has claimed he was “following God’s law” in carrying out the killing and believes he will be forgiven.
Why this case drew attention
The killing alarmed religious communities well beyond New River because Sheafe said Schonemann was just the first of a planned cross-country campaign against Christian leaders. The manhunt through Sedona and the national forest, his jailhouse confessions to local media, and the unusual staging of the killing kept the case in the news for over a year. Friday’s sentencing is expected to formally close the criminal case, locking in a life sentence rather than the death penalty Sheafe originally said he wanted.
Sources
Featured photo: Unidentified painter via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)