Witness: Andrew Shaw, Chris Bagley were friends until Bagley started robbing, extorting him

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man, already convicted in the 2018 fatal stabbing of Chris Bagley, testified Friday that Bagley and Andrew Shaw started out as friends but their relationship deteriorated quickly after Bagley assaulted and robbed him.

Drew Wagner, 39, who pleaded to voluntary manslaughter and two other charges in Bagley’s fatal stabbing on Dec. 14, 2018, said he thought Bagley was a good guy when he first met him, but that Bagley changed and he wasn’t a good friend to Shaw.

Bagley, 31, of Walker, was robbing Shaw of drugs, money and tools in 2018. Bagley also owed Shaw about $40,000 by the late spring or early summer of 2018 for marijuana and THC vape cartridges that Shaw “fronted” to Bagley to sell, Wagner testified.

Wagner, who was sentenced to 47 years in Bagley’s death and two other offenses, admitted he was a marijuana trafficker, along with Shaw, who he described as being the source in the area with an “abundance” of marijuana, THC cartridges and THC extract.

He said Shaw, at times, would have 40 to 50 pounds of marijuana and thousands of THC vape cartridges in his shop on Capital Drive.

Shaw, 37, of Cedar Rapids, is on trial this week for first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. He is accused of hiring two men — Johnny Blahnik Church, formerly known as Drew Blahnik, 38, of Marion, and Wagner — to kill Bagley, according to a criminal complaint.

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Bagley was fatally stabbed 13 times by Blahnik Church while Wagner aided him by holding Bagley during the brutal attack, prosecutors have said.

Blahnik Church is serving 57 years for second-degree murder in this case and another assault. Paul Hoff is serving two years for obstruction of prosecution related to Bagley’s murder.

Wagner will continue his testimony Monday. The trial is expected to last all next week.

Wagner: What started as friendship turned to conflict

Wagner, during his testimony, said he had been friends with Shaw for a long time. They met in 2009 and by 2017, he was one of Wagner’s best friends. The foundation of their relationship was marijuana trafficking, but Wagner said they also did other things to make a living.

Wagner said he met Bagley while working in construction with their mutual friend, Dan Kascel. Wagner started seeing more of Bagley when Bagley rented a shop from Shaw. Bagley’s shop was next to Shaw’s business, A Shaw Investments. At that time, Wagner said he wasn’t aware Bagley was dealing drugs.

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Wagner said Shaw fronted Bagley drug products and continued to help him, even after Bagley robbed and assaulted Shaw.

Wagner said Shaw told him Hoff and Bagley assaulted him at the shop and gunshots were fired through a door of Shaw’s shop. Shaw told Wagner he was trying to defend himself but Bagley and Hoff took his gun away from him during the assault. Wagner said Bagley also told him about the incident.

Bagley also robbed Shaw’s storage bay next to his shop, taking tools and appliances valued at around $30,000, Wagner testified. Shaw showed Wagner and Blahnik Church a surveillance video of the break-in, during which a white 1990s Dodge Dakota crashed through Shaw’s shop door and two people entered. Shaw told them it was Bagley and Hoff.

Wagner said he was confused because Shaw continued to have a relationship with Bagley — even though they didn’t talk much — and Shaw even wrote off the $40,000 Bagley owed him.

Bagley was arrested in September 2018 for having a large amount of marijuana and THC products at his Marion apartment, and Wagner said Shaw talked to him about bailing Bagley out. After Bagley was bailed out, he and Shaw started talking again, but Shaw said Bagley was attempting to extort money from him by threatening to tell police about Shaw’s marijuana business.

Shaw told Wagner that Bagley also robbed another house on Red Fox Drive, where he was storing more than 40-50 pounds of marijuana and THC products from a recent shipment. The drugs were worth about a “couple hundred thousand,” Wagner said.

When Shaw showed Wagner and Blahnik Church video of the robbery, Shaw started talking with Blahnik Church. Wagner testified he wasn’t there during the entire conversation — he was looking at cartridges — but he testified he heard Shaw say something about “(expletive) him up” and Blahnik Church laughed, saying it would cost him more than that.

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Wagner said he couldn’t recall other details of the conversation, but admitted in an interview with prosecutors on March 31, 2020 that Shaw offered Blahnik $10,000 to kill Bagley. Blahnik was laughing and replied it would cost more than that to beat him up, according to that 2020 statement.

Wagner, during the interview, also said Shaw asked him to be part of the assault or murder.

Bagley’s wife says he changed when he started using drugs

In other testimony Friday, Courtney Bagley, Chris Bagley’s wife, testified about their marriage and how her husband changed in 2017 when he started using methamphetamine and selling drugs. He would stay out late and wasn’t coming home.

Courtney said he became more secretive and withdrawn from her. He wasn’t the same man she met in 2009 and then married in 2016. They used to have a “great” relationship, she said. They never argued and he was a loving husband and father to their two children.

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In 2018, he moved out of their Walker home and into an apartment in Marion. Courtney said they maintained a friendly relationship for the kids and her husband still spent time with his children.

Courtney said Chris started spending more time with Shaw in 2018. Chris was running Shaw’s shop and that’s where she could usually find him. She testified she didn’t know Blahnik Church and only met Hoff once.

She said she knew her husband was seeing other women.

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The two reconciled around Halloween 2018 and Chris moved home, but Courtney said he was anxious and always on edge. He acted “paranoid” and seemed “scared for his life” and his family, she testified. He would repeatedly change their house security code and parked his truck behind the house.

Courtney said Chris and Shaw weren’t on good terms at that time. Shaw started sending Courtney messages, telling her Chris was at another woman’s house, saying he thought she would want to know.

Chris showed Courtney a threatening Snapchat from Shaw, which she saved as a screenshot. It was shown to the jury during her testimony. Shaw, in the message, said he didn’t tell anyone about “taking (expletive) out of (Shaw’s) shop. Remember people go missing every day. You going down because of the gun. I had nothing to do with it.”

Courtney said she last saw her husband on Dec. 13, 2018. She had gone to a retirement party and he stayed home with the kids. When she returned, he said he had to run an errand and would be back later or see her in the morning.

Her husband told her multiple times he loved her and they would go Christmas shopping the next day. He also gave her the “biggest kiss.”

Later, Courtney said she received a text message from Chris saying he loved her. He didn’t show up the next day and didn’t return her calls or texts. She reported him missing Dec. 17. Two months later, she found out he was dead.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette

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