Autopsy: Chris Bagley suffered 17 stab injuries, penetrating his heart, lung, other organs

CEDAR RAPIDS — Chris Bagley, the Walker man who Andrew Shaw is accused of hiring two men to kill, had 17 stab and cutting wounds to his neck, shoulder, torso and leg, a state medical examiner and forensic pathologist testified Friday.

The various wounds went through soft tissue muscles and penetrated his upper airway, larynx, jugular vein, heart, left lung, stomach, diaphragm, spleen and abdomen, Dr. Kelly Kruse, an associate Iowa state medical examiner, testified during the first-degree murder trial of Shaw.

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Graphic autopsy photos of the multiple stab injuries and exhumation of the body of Bagley, 31, were shown to jurors Friday in Linn County District Court.

Bagley was buried in the yard where Drew Wagner, 39, of Cedar Rapids, convicted for participating in the fatal stabbing, was living at the time. According to trial testimony, Bagley was fatally stabbed by Johnny Blahnik Church, 38, of Marion, while Wagner held him down on Dec. 14, 2018.

Shaw, 37, of Cedar Rapids, is charged 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 Paul Hoff, 46, who owned the mobile home where Bagley was killed.

The prosecution should wrap up its case Monday and then the defense will start.

Authorities didn’t find Bagley’s body until March 1, 2019. The ground was frozen and had to be heated in order to remove the body from the east side of a detached garage at 4069 Soutter Ave. SE.

Kruse, who was involved in this process, along with law enforcement and a University of Iowa anthropology professor, said it took two days to remove his body and some additional days at the state medical examiner’s office in Ankeny for the thawing process.

When Bagley’s body was uncovered, he had been wrapped in a bedsheet and plastic tarp, Kruse, in identifying photos, said. Precautions were taken when removing the body from the ground to prevent any additional injuries to the body. The body was “well preserved” because of the cold weather conditions over the two month burial, Kruse said.

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Bagley, who was 5-foot-9 and weighed 170 pounds, was buried in clothing he wore on the day of the attack — a T-shirt, sweatpants, socks and sneakers. He had a red bandanna rolled up and tied around his neck and had a fanny pack around his waist.

Kruse identified photos of his shirt, which showed torn places corresponding with stab wounds on Bagley’s shoulder and torso areas.

Included in the 17 injuries were three “cutting” wounds, which were below his knee. Those were more superficial wounds.

There were stab wounds that entered his body front to back and back to front and most were made in a downward trajectory as the weapon, most likely a knife, penetrated his body, Kruse said.

Kruse testified she compared the injuries to two knives given to her by investigators, which is common for medical examiners to do, and determined those types of knives could have been used.

The two knives were found during a police search of Blahnik Church’s Marion apartment, according to previous testimony. Neither knife tested positive for Bagley’s blood when the search was conducted Feb. 27, 2019.

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Kruse also sent Bagley blood and urine to another lab, which handles toxicology reports for the Iowa office, to be tested. Bagley had ethanol, which could be alcohol or produced from decomposition of the body; caffeine; nicotine; methamphetamine; and amphetamines in his system.

According to the report, there was 3,600 nanograms per milliliter of meth found in Bagley’s system. Kruse said meth affects people differently and prolonged use would affect someone’s tolerance.

Kruse concluded the cause of death was multiple sharp force injuries and the manner of death was homicide.

On cross exam, Kruse said 200 to 600 nanograms can produce violent behavior and high doses of the drug have been known to cause hallucinations and aggressive behavior.

According to testimony by Wagner and Hoff, all of the men were smoking marijuana and meth the night of the fatal stabbing.

Former inmates testify about what Shaw told them

In other testimony, two men who were former inmates with Shaw in Linn and Iowa county jails, testified about what Shaw told them about the Bagley assault.

Sixth Judicial District Judge David Cox granted a motion made by the prosecution to not allow expanded media coverage of the men’s testimony and he included that the witnesses could not be identified by their names because of safety concerns for the men.

One man who was in the Linn County Jail with Shaw in May 2019 said Shaw talked about Bagley when a news report came on the television. Shaw said “You see what happened to (someone) that tried that (expletive) with me.”

The man, who served a 12-year federal sentence, said Shaw also mentioned he wanted Bagley “roughed up.”

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On cross, Shaw’s lawyer asked the man whether he contacted an FBI agent, saying he had information about Shaw in this case, so he could get a reduced sentence.

The man said he couldn’t recall.

On redirect, he was asked if he received any reduced federal sentence from his information and he said no.

Another man who shared an Iowa County Jail cell or pod with Shaw in March 2020, said Shaw talked to him about Wagner and Bagley. This inmate didn’t know any of them, including Shaw.

The man said Shaw told him Bagley “died like a bitch” and “it was the best money he ever spent.” The comments from Shaw didn’t happen in one conversation. They happened over several during their time together in the jail.

The man said some of these conversations happened after Shaw received text messages, pictures or “whatever” from family. He knows Shaw received one email from his brother, Chris Shaw, in March, possibly around St. Patrick’s Day, and “lost it.” That’s when he made the comment about “best money he ever spent.”

Shaw’s brother told him the Bagley family was “messing” with him by posting things on social media, along with others.

This inmate also said Shaw told him Wagner got $10,000 for killing Bagley, and only said Blahnik Church was a “bad ass.” Shaw also said “Hoff is a drug dealer.”

Shaw, in another comment to the inmate, said Bagley was buried in a driveway and mentioned a skid loader was used to dig a hole for the body.

This inmate said he was convicted and served more than 48 months in federal prison. He was released, but then violated supervised release and had to return to prison. He was convicted for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

His testimony will continue Monday.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com