MADISON COUNTY, Ill. – The man charged in a murder-for-hire scheme that left a Collinsville woman dead is set to appear in court Friday morning.
36-year-old Sammy Shafer Jr. is due in court at the Madison County Criminal Justice Center at 9 a.m. Friday morning for his arraignment. The hearing is coming a little more than three weeks after the victim in this case, 32-year-old Portia Rowland, was shot and killed outside of her Collinsville home.
Officials say Shafer was the husband of Rowland’s girlfriend but the two were no longer together when the murder happened. Shafer, along with 45-year-old Gary Johnson and 39-year-old Marty Shaw, was charged with first-degree murder in this case.
Court documents say Shafer was the mastermind of the murder-for-hire plot. Shafer allegedly paid Johnson and Shaw a total of $10,000 to kill Rowland. Investigators say Johnson was the alleged shooter and Shaw drove the getaway car.
Rowland was shot and killed back on Jan. 21 as she warmed up her car. Rowland’s body was found in her driveway after police responded to a call for shots fired in the area. Rowland’s girlfriend was inside the home at the time of the shooting but has said she did not hear anything when the shooting happened.
The Major Case Squad was called in to investigate the killing. The other two suspects in the case, Johnson and Shaw, entered not guilty pleas back on Feb. 7. Johnson and Shaw were both represented by public defenders but Shafer has hired well-known defense attorney Scott Rosenblum. All three suspects remain behind bars Friday morning.