The Papa John’s Murder of Gordon Schaffer: David in TN’s Exclusive Report for WEJB/NSU on the Verdict and Sentencing!

 

War crime victim Gordon Schaffer, 22 
 

By David in TN
Friday, April 13, 2018 at 12:52:00 A.M. EDT

I arrived at the Columbia, Tennessee courthouse at 8:15 am Thursday morning, 15 minutes before the day's session was to start. I was sitting on a bench outside waiting for the courtroom to open. Judge Robert Jones walked past, saw me, and said hello. I said hello back.

A year ago at a hearing, Judge Jones looked at me and said "Do you have business here?" I answered "I'm a spectator." He obviously recognized me. Very few spectators were in the courtroom. Almost everyone was a friend or family of the victim, Gordon Schaffer.

The lawyers argued about Darious Fitzpatrick's "previous criminal activity." Fitzpatrick had robbed a Dollar General Store across town that night, but it didn't come up in this trial for the Papa John's murder.

The jury went out to deliberate at 9 am. Verdict watch was on.

After a time, I went out to have a meal and go to the public library to check the internet. Fitzpatrick sat at the defense table the whole time. He never moved, totally impassive.

I sat in the gallery reading a book. Time passed very slowly. Suddenly, at 2:05 pm, a buzzer went off, signifying a verdict.

The jury filed in. The foreman, who looked to be the youngest member of the panel, in his mid-twenties, read the verdict. There were three counts:

Guilty of 1st Degree Murder. Guilty of First Degree Felony Murder. Guilty of Special Aggravated Robbery. The sentencing phase began immediately.

District Attorney General Brent Cooper spoke, calling for a sentence of Life Without Parole. Cooper said "Shaffer never will live while Fitzpatrick does."

Defense attorney Greg Latta then argued Fitzgerald's co-defendant Genovah Pye got off easy by testifying against his partner in crime. Latta said his client should get life with parole.

Gordon Shaffer's mother, Mary Buckner, takes the stand. Ms. Buckner said her son wasn't perfect but tried to make everyone laugh and never met a stranger. He had recently acquired a steady girlfriend. Ms. Buckner said "My only boy. My only boy." She was in tears and had to stop for a few moments. A glass of water and a tissue were brought to her.

Ms. Buckner said she gets nervous when she sees young black males and is angry at herself for feeling like this. She has anxiety attacks. "I don't get parole for this," she said.

Ms. Buckner then said Fitzpatrick had destroyed his own mother's life after all she had done for him. "You spit in her face," she said.

The defendant was allowed to make a statement. Fitzpatrick mumbled "I'm sorry," almost inaudible. His mother was in the courtroom but didn't take the stand, never said anything.

DAG [District Attorney General] Cooper's co-prosecutor, Dan Ronde, gave a rebuttal argument "Losing a child is the toughest thing in the world."

Ronde said he was 68 years old, was aggressive and very able.

The jury consisted of six men and six women, nine white and three black, four white men, two black men, five white women, one black woman.

The penalty phase verdict came at 3:55 p.m. The jury decided on a sentence of Life with the Possibility of Parole.

So ended the "Papa John's Murder Case." It got a lot of publicity when it occurred in October 2014, even some national publicity. Over the next few years, there was seemingly a news blackout. The only reporter was from the local Columbia Daily Herald.

[A “news blackout,” except, that is, for David in TN!]

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 21 when the sentence will presumably be made official. I assume Judge Jones will act as 13th Juror.

This is something the late Judge Baumgartner neglected to do for the Christian-Newsom Knoxville Horror Trials.
 

[Previously, at WEJB/NSU, on this racist atrocity:

“War Crime Follow-Up: The Papa John’s Murder in Columbia, Tennessee”;

“Juveniles Tried as Adults for Murder Not Unusual in Maury County, TN”;

“Exclusive Update on the Papa John’s Murder of Gordon Schaeffer”;

“Papa John's CEO Attends Funeral of Employee Shot Dead by Robbers While Working at the Popular Pizza Chain - and Pays for his Service and Medical Expenses”;

“WEJB/NSU Exclusive: Update on the Papa John’s Murder of Gordon Schaffer; are Tennessee Officials Dragging Their Feet, in Order to Quietly Thwart Justice, in the Case of Suspect Darious Fitzpatrick?” [Racist, black court worker];

“Update on the Racist, ‘Papa John’s’ Murder of Gordon Schaffer”;

“The Hate Crime ‘Papa John’s’ Murder of Gordon Schaffer: A Status Update”;

“Third Suspect Arrested in 2014 Papa John’s Murder Racist Hate Crime”;

“Things are Moving (Finally!) in the Racist Papa John’s Murder of White Counter Clerk, Gordon Shaffer (Update)”;

“Remember the Papa John’s Murder of Gordon Schaffer in Columbia, Tennessee? WEJB/NSU’s David in TN is Still on the Case! (Update)”;

“Judge to Observer in Empty Courtroom: ‘Do you have any business?’: Racist MSM Continue to Maintain News Blackout of the Hate Crime Murder of Papa John’s Clerk Gordon Schaffer, but WEJB/NSU’s Heroic David in TN Continues to Bear Witness!”;

“Delay, Delay, Delay: Doesn’t Anyone Care Any More about Serving Justice? (The Papa John’s Murder)”;

“Shhh! ‘The reason behind the [five black-on-white serial] killings remains a mystery’—‘Comments have been disabled for this story’”;

“Kansas City, MO, and Columbia, TN: Of Racial Murders and News Blackouts.”;

“Something’s Rotten in Tennessee: Prosecutor Shows No Interest in Trying Papa John’s Murder Case, Despite Shooter’s Confession and Videotape of Crime”;

“White Lives Just Don’t Matter; Remember the Papa John’s Murder? Well, David in TN Never Forgot about It”;

“The Trial in the 2014 Papa John's Shooting Has Opened, and WEJB/NSU’s David in TN was There: Read His Exclusive Report!”; and

“BREAKING NEWS! Darious Fitzpatrick Guilty on All Counts in Papa John’s Murder; Sentence LWP.”]
 


N.S.: War criminal Darious Fitzpatrick, though only 17 at the time of the war crime in 2014, was already a violent career criminal with several felony convictions as a juvenile; his example is spurring calls for juvenile justice reform in Tennessee. I did not refer to Fitzpatrick as a "suspected war criminal," because he has confessed that he shot to kill Gordon Schaffer, even though it took him several shots to hit his victim.