The man accused of killing and crucifying 76-year-old Arizona pastor William Schonemann last year is now pushing for the death penalty and complaining that the legal process is taking too long.
In 2025, Adam Sheafe was captured following an unrelated crime. He proudly confessed that he followed “the spirit” to select Schonemann, a pastor he did not know, as his target.
He set up a tent near the church, stalked him, broke into his home around 2:00 a.m., killed him, and confessed to screwing Schonemann to wall studs while placing a crafted crown of thorns on his head. In a later jailhouse interview, he added:
“I was going to start in Phoenix and end in Phoenix, and circle the nation. Ten cities, 14 pastors, 10 states…there’s 13 tribes of Israel, so what I wanted to do was execute and crucify 13 priests, and put one of the tribes of Israel in each of their right ears.”
Sheafe, who has a large YAHWEH tattoo across his neck, further revealed:
“God commanded us to execute anyone that’s preaching that someone other than him is God, because it’s that serious. They are claiming that Jesus is God and that somebody other than God is God.
I want the death penalty because I want to show that you can’t kill God’s son. The whole story is B.S.”
Sheafe initially pleaded not guilty, then sought to plead no contest. However, he later told the judge he would plead guilty in exchange for a bench trial, expressing frustration that the process was being “dragged out.”
“I have no mitigating factors and I can see that there are two aggravating factors. I don’t even need to read that. I mean, it’s an undisputable fact that the victim, Pastor Bill Schonemann, was over 70 years old. It’s an undisputable fact that the crime was heinous in nature. I intended it to be heinous.
So they’re two aggravating factors. And I have no mitigating factors. That’s why I’m saying, why do we have to drag this on and on and on? Why can’t we just go to sentencing? I’m not contesting anything. Before I was even indicted, I gave a full confession to the FBI. I did four interviews with four separate media outlets.
From day one, I’ve said I did this. These are the reasons why I did this, and I’m not contesting anything. And my speedy trial rights went from five months to basically two and a half years. And we’re dragging this out in the interest of justice. What about the victim’s families? What about me? What about my family? We want closure so we can move on with our lives.”
