Adam Christopher Sheafe, the ex-convict who is the main suspect in the murder of New River Bible Chapel Pastor William Schonemann in Arizona, struggled with a gambling addiction and lost a court battle against trading platform and futures broker NinjaTrader in which he tried to recoup losses.
In his complaint against NinjaTrader, which was dismissed in February, according to Fox 10, the 51-year-old Sheafe alleged that the platform aided his “unhealthy gambling addiction.”
“I had developed an unhealthy gambling addiction to trading futures contracts via their platform,” wrote Sheafe, who sought $1 million for “losses and damages.”
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Sheafe, who previously lived in Oceanside, California, and worked at a Carlsbad restaurant, accused NinjaTrader of negligence for not closing his account. He also filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2024 after allegedly losing more than $40,000. He said he “lost everything I had owned and had worked for.”
Sheafe is in custody at the Coconino County Detention Center in Flagstaff. He faces multiple charges, including second-degree burglary, unlawful flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of an accident with an injury, criminal damage, theft or control of stolen property, first-degree trespassing, possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest, Sedona Red Rock News reported.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s office said it had connected Sheafe to the murder of the 76-year-old Schonemann before he was arrested on the charges in Sedona on April 30, adding that he was also being investigated for other crimes by authorities, including the FBI.
At a press conference last Thursday, it was noted that official charges against Sheafe in Maricopa County had not yet been completed. But Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan called the pastor’s murder “probably one of the most bizarre cases I have ever seen in my 40 years with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”
While he was unable to share many details in the case due to the ongoing investigation, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Capt. David Lee of the major crimes division told reporters that investigators believe Sheafe’s targeting of Schonemann and others was “religious in nature.”
“The information we have has indicated that the motive was religious in nature, and that there were a number of future victims planned, some of those in Arizona, and that he had taken action in furtherance of those additional crimes. We have been in contact with those identified victims, and we are investigating or assisting with those incidents as well,” Lee said.
Investigators also noted that the pastor was randomly targeted by Sheafe.
In a recent statement on the investigation to Fox 10, Pastor Schonemann’s son, Randy Schonemann, struggled to accept the random nature of his father’s death.
“It’s amazing to think that somebody drove down the road in New River and just happened to pick him out of, you know, the other several churches that you drive past from either direction [to] go through New River,” he said. “It’s trying to understand, that is, you know, kind of where we’re at I guess. We wanna understand what happened. We want to understand why, as much as we can. And you know, we know that this is a long race.”
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