On Friday, Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies extradited Adam Sheafe from Coconino County to Maricopa County to face charges in the Pastor William ‘Bill’ Shonemann murder case.
Sheafe, son of controversial Tucson businessman, Chris Sheafe, is accused of murdering the 76-year-old Pastor Shonemann, of New River Bible Chapel. Pastor Schonemann’s death was part of a larger plot by Sheafe to kill 14 Christian leaders around the country.
On April 28, Pastor Schonemann was found dead in his home in New River by two members of his congregation who went to check on him. The pastor’s body had been positioned with the arms outstretched, similar to a crucifixion.
Sheafe is also accused of breaking into a home in Cave Creek two days earlier and stealing a pickup truck. The stolen truck was found by Sedona police who were investigating a burglary in which Sheafe and the truck were captured on surveillance video. He was caught the next day after breaking into another home in Sedona.
Detectives from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office connected Sheafe to the pastor’s murder through evidence at the victim’s home, along with evidence from the Cave Creek burglary, and items found in Sheafe’s backpack and the stolen truck.
A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Sheafe on the following charges:
- one count of First-Degree Murder, a Class One Felony
- three counts of Attempt to Commit First-Degree Murder, a Class Two Felony
- one count of Burglary in the Second Degree, a Class Three Felony
- one count of Burglary in the First Degree, a Class Two Felony
- one count of Kidnapping, a Class Two Felony
- one count of Theft of Means of Transportation, a Class Three Felony
- one count of Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree, a Class Two Misdemeanor.