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Marion man who killed Chris Bagley told grand jury he wasn’t hired or paid to do it
Grand jury testimony read into the record because Johnny Blahnik Church wasn’t allowed to testify
Aug. 18, 2025 7:05 pm, Updated: Aug. 21, 2025 9:53 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — The Marion man who was convicted for fatally stabbing Chris Bagley in 2018 told a grand jury in 2019 that he didn’t know Andrew Shaw wanted Bagley dead and that Shaw was involved with drug trafficking.
Johnny Blahnik Church, formerly known as Drew Blahnik, 38, also told a Linn County grand jury that he stabbed Bagley multiple times in the torso and neck in self-defense during a fight at the home of Paul Hoff. Bagley started an argument with Drew Wagner, 39, of Cedar Rapids, over a gun Bagley sold Wagner, Blahnik told the grand jury. Bagley then pushed Wagner and that started a physical fight.
Blahnik Church told the grand jury he tried to break it up as the two were wrestling. He saw Bagley reach behind his back for a chrome plated Ruger, and Wagner yelled “Gun, gun.”
Blahnik Church said he grabbed a large knife off the bar in the home, and stabbed Bagley multiple times in the torso and neck in self-defense of himself and Wagner. He told the grand jury he wasn’t armed because he had been working on a remodel job at Wagner’s house before they went to Hoff’s house to get tools.
Blahnik Church wasn’t allowed to testify Monday at the first-degree murder trial of Shaw, so the defense read Blahnik Church’s grand jury testimony into the record, which means the jury can consider it.
Blahnik Church was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and other charges by the grand jury.
The prosecution said it had concerns that Blahnik Church wouldn’t answer questions on cross examination and that he could cause a mistrial. They had been monitoring his Linn County Jail phone calls, where he indicated his intentions.
Shaw, 37, of Cedar Rapids, is charged with first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder, and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.
Both Wagner and Blahnik Church were convicted in this case, along with Hoff, 46, who owned the mobile home where Bagley was killed.
The prosecution rested Monday morning after nearly eight days of testimony. The defense also rested late Monday without Shaw taking the stand in his own defense.
Closing arguments will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Linn County District Court. The defense, prosecution and 6th Judicial District Judge David Cox will work Tuesday on jury instructions. The jury is expected to start deliberations Wednesday afternoon.
By reading the grand jury testimony into the record Monday, the defense was able to include Blahnik Church’s denial that Shaw was involved in Bagley’s murder or that he paid him and Wagner to do it.
Blahnik Church, in his grand jury testimony, said he had no knowledge of any robberies Bagley pulled against Shaw, stealing money, drugs and tools from him. Shaw told investigators about the robberies, and Wagner and others testified about them last week.
Blahnik Church also said more than once that he wasn’t paid by Shaw and Shaw wasn’t involved in the fatal stabbing.
Kris Lyon, an investigator and digital forensic examiner for the Iowa City Public Defender’s Office, testified about an analysis of phone data he ran to find out if there were texts, Snapchats and other messages and calls between Shaw and Bagley, Wagner, Blahnik Church and Hoff through Dec. 14, 2018. He found Shaw didn’t have contact with Wagner, Hoff or Blahnik Church. He only had contact with Bagley.
Shaw also never had group contact with Wagner, Blahnik Church and Hoff, Lyon testified.
Lyon was asked, in his experience as a former law enforcement officer and as an investigator, how people behave if they’ve used drugs and experience paranoia. In earlier trial testimony, some witnesses indicated Bagley seemed to be scared, fearing for his life before he was killed.
Lyon said drug use can cause paranoia and users feel people are watching them, even thinking smoke alarms are surveillance cameras.
On cross, Lyon said he didn’t look for any communication between Shaw and the other men after Bagley’s death. He also said he didn’t know if any of them had more than one cellphone.
Last prosecution witness
Before the prosecution rested, a former jail inmate of Shaw’s, resumed his testimony from last Friday.
The former inmate wasn’t identified in accordance with a ruling made last week by Judge Cox. The prosecution had concerns over the inmate’s safety in testifying. Cox agreed and didn’t allow video or audio recording of his testimony, and he prohibited media from identifying him by name.
The man said he shared a jail cell or pod with Shaw in March 2020 in the Iowa County Jail.
The prosecution played some audio clips of a Linn County Sheriff’s investigator’s interview of the former inmate because the man couldn’t fully recall some of the statements he provided in 2020.
In the clips, the former inmate said Shaw told him details of Bagley’s killing, including that Bagley was killed by Wagner and Blahnik Church in a trailer owned by Paul Hoff, and that they buried his body in a yard using a skid loader.
Shaw also told the former inmate that he and Wagner had been at a casino after the killing, during the morning of Dec. 14, 2018. Shaw then dropped Wagner off at a bus stop, the inmate said he’d been told.
In previous testimony, Linn County Sheriff’s Maj. Dave Beuter testified about finding a casino cash out voucher, dated Dec. 14, 2018, in Shaw’s wallet, during a search of Shaw’s business.
An investigator, in another clip, asked the former inmate if Shaw said where “this hatred stemmed” from for Bagley. Shaw told the inmate Bagley stole $30,000 and marijuana from him and Shaw was tired of dealing with him. It was “easier to get rid of him.”
Shaw also told the inmate that Wagner lied about Bagley having a gun or a gun falling out of his clothes during the assault, so he and Blahnik Church could claim self-defense.
On cross, the former inmate was repeatedly asked if he provide information to law enforcement in order to receive a reduced sentence for his two federal firearms convictions.
The former inmate said he did in other cases. He didn’t receive any reduced prison time for his testimony in this case.
The former inmate said he came forward because some of the things Shaw said were “vulgar and rubbed me the wrong way.” He also thought the information might give the Bagley family some “clarity.”
Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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