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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids man pleads not guilty to hiring two others to kill Chris Bagley
Andrew Shaw’s trial set for Jan. 16
Nov. 30, 2023 2:58 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — A convicted drug trafficker pleaded not guilty this week to charges he hired two men to fatally stab Chris Bagley in 2018, and his trial is set for Jan. 16 in Linn County District Court.
Andrew Thomas Shaw, 34, of Cedar Rapids, was charged in October with first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit forcible felony, according to a criminal complaint.
A warrant was issued last year, while he was still serving a federal prison sentence for trafficking marijuana.
Shaw is accused of aiding and abetting Drew Wagner, 38, and Johnny Blahnik Church, 36, formerly known as Drew Blahnik — both convicted in Bagley’s fatal stabbing — between Oct. 1, 2018, and Feb. 20, 2019, according to the complaint. He also is accused of hiring them to kill Bagley, 31, of Walker, and paying them for the crime, the complaint stated.
Shaw, who is being represented by the Johnson County Public Defender’s Office, has demanded a speedy trial, according to court documents.
He remains in jail on $2 million bail pending trial.
Wagner, during the trial for Blahnik Church, testified how he and Blahnik Church carried out Bagley’s killing on behalf of their mutual drug dealer, Shaw, as revenge because Bagley had robbed Shaw of money and drugs and beat him up.
Wagner said Bagley had stolen between $23,000 and up to $200,000 from Shaw. He also said he’d overheard Shaw asking Blahnik Church if he would kill Bagley for some amount of money — he didn’t hear the dollar amount.
Wagner and Blahnik Church went to the mobile home of Paul Hoff, 44, of Cedar Rapids, also convicted in the fatal stabbing, to harm Bagley on Dec. 14, 2018. Wagner got into a fight with Bagley, threw him up against a wall and put him in a bear hug.
Wagner said when Blahnik Church yelled “gun, gun,” he put Bagley in a headlock from behind. He didn’t see a gun on Bagley but did see one on the floor.
Blahnik Church then stabbed Bagley, Wagner said. Bagley died from 17 stab wounds to his neck and torso, according to trial testimony.
Blahnik Church brought the body back to Wagner’s house and buried it in the yard on Soutter Avenue SE, Wagner testified.
Later, Wagner said he met Shaw at his investment business and told him what had happened to Bagley. Shaw gave him marijuana for Hoff, a package of about $10,000 in cash, some THC wax and 100 THC cartridges for Blahnik Church as payment for the killing.
Wagner said he didn’t want any money from Shaw but said Shaw later tried to undercharge him for marijuana that Wagner would sell.
Bagley’s body was excavated from the frozen ground by law enforcement March 1, 2019. The body was found buried under a pile of lumber and a canoe by Wagner’s garage.
Blahnik Church, who claimed self-defense in the stabbing, was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges and was sentenced in December 2021 to 57 years in prison. He also is serving time for assaulting another inmate while in the Linn County Jail.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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