THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409130332
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
A 37-year-old Norfolk man was sentenced to life in a North Carolina prison Monday after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a photographer who had been living with his estranged wife.
Under a plea agreement, Craig Wendell Schaefer also pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnaping and felonious breaking and entering charges.
Killed in the shooting on Aug. 8, 1993, in Carova was 34-year-old Robert Dwan Feary, who formerly been a freelance photographer for The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
Under questioning by Superior Court Judge Gary E. Trawick, Schaefer said that the best thing would be ``to commit suicide.''
``I just think that with my family and everyone involved, and, in my situation, that's how I feel.''
However, when Trawick asked if he felt it was in his best interest, given his legal situation, to plead guilty, Schaefer responded ``Yes'' in a barely audible voice.
Schaefer was in a wheelchair in the courtroom. After the shooting, Schaefer barricaded himself inside the home and held his estranged wife, Kimberly Setzer Schaefer, hostage for several hours.
Schaefer was arrested after leaping about 25 feet from the rooftop deck of the house in an attempt to evade authorities. He is now a quadriplegic as a result of injuries he suffered in the jump.
In Kimberly Schaefer's statement to police after the shooting, she said that she and the victim were sleeping at the beachfront cottage, when she got up to turn off the radio.
She said she saw Schaefer in another room of the house, and, in a struggle that ensued, he fired three shots. One of those bullets hit Feary in the thigh, while the other two struck the head and chest at close range. Schaefer contended that he thought Feary was reaching for a gun.
``I did what I felt I had to do to keep him from hurting me,'' Schaefer said. However, Kimberly Schaefer said the victim was asleep. She did not testify at the trial.
Kimberly Schafer said at the time that the defendant beat her, bound her hands and feet, and began to rape her, but then backed off, a charge Schaefer denied.
Kimberly Schaefer also told authorities that the defendant had been stalking her.
During the sentencing, the mothers of both the victim and the defendant wept openly. Following the hearing, Feary's mother, Joy Bagley, told reporters she still felt the pain from her son's death.
``I hurt so much, I don't know what I feel,'' she said. ``I've been working for this for so long.''
If Schaefer had gone to trial, he could have received the death penalty. The defendant at one point asked about withdrawing the plea, and was told by Prosecutor H.P. Williams that, if the plea was not accepted, the case would go to trial.
Given the defendant's condition, Bagley said, a death penalty was not likely if the case had gone to trial.
``I realize in our judicial system he probably would not have received a death sentence. I don't believe a jury would have given him the death penalty, with the affliction he had, even though that affliction was self-inflicted in an attempt to evade the police.''
However, Bagley said she believes Schaefer deserves to die, and that the life sentence should be ``irrevocable.''
``The loss of my son is irrevocable,'' she said.
Schaefer could be eligible for parole in 10 years.
KEYWORDS: MURDER TRIAL GUILTY PLEA by CNB