Judge delivers verdict for alleged shooter in Collinsville murder-for-hire case
A quick and unexpected turn of events in a Madison County courtroom Monday led to a guilty verdict for Gary D. Johnson, the alleged shooter in a Collinsville murder-for-hire case.
A jury trial was set to begin at 9 a.m. for Johnson, 46, of Cahokia Heights, formerly of East St. Louis. But shortly before jury selection, he waived his right to a jury trial, turning the decision over to Associate Judge Neil Schroeder.
Schroeder was guided by a stipulation of facts agreed upon by prosecutors in the state’s attorney’s office and defense attorneys in the public defender’s office. The bench trial featured no witnesses.
“The evidence against Mr. Johnson is overwhelming,” Schroeder said before finding him guilty of first-degree murder for shooting and killing Portia Rowland, 32, in the driveway of her Collinsville home on Jan. 21, 2025.
Sentencing for Johnson has been scheduled for April 23 at 10 a.m.
Also charged in the case is Marty D. Shaw, 34, of Collinsville, Johnson’s cousin, who is accused of driving the getaway car; and Sammy J. Shafer, 37, a Caseyville businessman and father of three.
Prosecutors allege that Shafer paid the other two men $10,000 to kill Rowland, who was romantically involved and living with his estranged wife, Sarah Shafer. Shaw worked for Sammy Shafer’s excavating company.
About 20 of Rowland’s family members and friends attended the trial, which started late and lasted less than a half hour. Afterward, her stepfather, Bob Mueller, declined to comment.
“I’m not going to make any comment until all three cases are over,” he told a BND reporter.
Schroeder summarized the stipulation of facts to explain how he arrived at the guilty verdict. He said evidence showed that:
- Johnson and Shaw were communicating early on the morning of Rowland’s killing.
- Shaw’s car was tracked going from Johnson’s house to the murder scene and back to Johnson’s house.
- At least one of the shell casings recovered in Rowland’s driveway had Johnson’s DNA on it.
- Police executing a search warrant at Johnson’s house found the gun used in the killing.
- Police also found clothing that matched those worn by the shooter, as shown in a security camera image.
“Mr. Johnson ultimately fully confessed to his involvement in this crime and that he was in fact the person who shot and killed Portia Rowland,” Schroeder said.
Public Defender Mary Copeland reiterated a prior objection to Johnson’s police statement being submitted as evidence, saying he didn’t give it voluntarily. The judge overruled that objection.
Schroeder ordered a presentence investigation to prepare for sentencing on a later date. He told Johnson it’s possible he will get life in prison because of a prior first-degree murder conviction.
Johnson pleaded guilty in 2000 in St. Clair County Circuit Court to a brutal killing involving three East St. Louis teenagers who beat another teen with a baseball bat, dropped a concrete parking barrier on his head and set him on fire in a Wendy’s parking lot.
Johnson was incarcerated for 20 years, including three in St. Clair County Jail and 17 in state prison. He was released in 2017.
After Rowland’s murder last year, the office of Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine charged Johnson, Shaw and Shafer with first-degree murder, Shafer with solicitation of murder for hire and Johnson with possession of a weapon by a felon.
Johnson is the first of the three defendants to go to trial. He’s being represented by Copeland and Assistant Public Defender Trent Cameron. Prosecutors are Assistant State’s Attorneys Luke Yager and Lauren Maricle.
Trial dates haven’t been set for Shaw or Shafer.
Haine commended Yager and Maricle in a news release on Monday afternoon.
“This verdict reflects the evidence and the dedication of our prosecution team,” he stated. “This is a complex case, and today’s outcome is the result of countless hours of preparation.”
Last year, investigators with the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis working on the Rowland case reported using license-plate readers to track a suspect vehicle to a Missouri address, where they took Shaw into custody, and that led them to Shafer and Johnson.
All three defendants have been held in Madison County Jail since their arrests. Johnson and Shaw waived their right to detention hearings. Shafer filed a motion for release, but a judge denied it.
Rowland was a 2010 graduate of Collinsville High School who worked as a mechanic for Metropolitan Sewer District in St. Louis.
Sammy and Sarah Shafer, who had been married since 2013, were going through a contentious divorce at the time of the murder, according to St. Clair County court records. The divorce was finalized in June.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 2:11 PM.
