Top 10: No. 8: Two convicted in Longmont postal murder case
Dec. 24—Editor's note: The Times-Call is counting down the top 10 news stories of the year, as selected by the newspaper's editors.
The two defendants in the Longmont shooting of a postal carrier were found guilty by juries and sentenced this year for the death of 33-year-old Jason Schafer.
Andrew Ritchie, 36, and Devan Schreiner, 28, were both found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the death of Schafer who was fatally shot while on his postal route in Longmont on Oct. 13, 2021.
During Schreiner's trial, her defense attorney Jennifer Engelmann said Schreiner was not denying shooting Schaefer but Schreiner lacked the "culpable mental state" to be found guilty of first-degree murder and was influenced by Ritchie. During Ritchie's trial, prosecutors said Ritchie encouraged Schreiner to murder Schaefer.
In Schreiner's trial, prosecutors said she was guilty of planning and ultimately carrying out the "execution." While in Ritchie's trial, defense attorney's argued that Ritchie warned Schaefer that Schreiner may hurt him.
Both trials were continued multiple times due to evidentiary issues.
According to an affidavit, just after 12:30 p.m. Oct.13, 2021, Schaefer was shot three times next to his postal delivery van, near a cluster of mailboxes on Heatherhill Street just west of Renaissance Drive.
Multiple security cameras detected Schreiner driving into the area of the shooting and approaching Schaefer before gun shots were detected and Schreiner was seen running from the area.
At the time of the murder Ritchie, who had a wife, was having an affair with Schreiner. Schreiner had a child with her ex, Schafer, who had begun dating Schreiner's 19-year-old sister. Schreiner and Schaefer were in a custody dispute at the time of the shooting.
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Top 10
No. 10: A dangerous year on the roads
No. 9: Longmont doused with rain as city experiences wettest year since 1923
