GUILTY IA - Christopher Bagley, 31, Walker, Linn County, 14 Dec 2018 *arrest*

[PommyMommy]

OCT 8, 2019
New charges for man connected to Chris Bagley death
Andrew Shaw, who is tied to the death of Christopher Bagley through court records, now faces a new charge of drug conspiracy.

Shaw faces a federal charge accusing him of being a large-scale marijuana dealer for almost a decade. Previous court testimony has linked Shaw to supplying Bagley with marijuana to sell.

[...]

Shaw is facing up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to a separate weapons charge earlier this year. This new drug conspiracy charge could land him a 40 year sentence.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 10, 2019
Man connected to Chris Bagley death, sentenced to 10 years in prison
One of the last people to speak to Chris Bagley, a Linn County man found dead earlier this year, will now spend 10 years in prison for an unrelated case.

Federal court documents show Logan Gerber pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a drug user in May.

[...]

Court records in Linn County show Gerber told authorities that he spoke to Bagley over the phone at 3:32 a.m. on December 14.

 

[24Roses]

32-year-old charged in death of Linn County manThere has been an arrest in his death. 1st degree murder charge among other charges.

 

[PommyMommy]

32-year-old charged in death of Linn County manThere has been an arrest in his death. 1st degree murder charge among other charges.

Wow, finally!

Noting:

Drew Alan Blahnik, 32, was indicted by a Linn County grand jury on charges of Murder in the 1st Degree, Obstructing Prosecution, and Abuse of a Corpse.

He is being held in the Linn County Correctional Center with a cash-only bond set at $1 million.

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 31, 2019
Cedar Rapids men charged with killing Chris Bagley
[...]

Drew Blahnik, 32, of Cedar Rapids, already in federal custody on firearms and drug charges, was served an arrest warrant Thursday. And a detainer was placed on Paul Hoff, 40, of Cedar Rapids, also in federal custody on firearms and drugs charges, according to court records.

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden convened a grand jury to determine if charges should be bought in the case. Jurors indicted Blahnik and Hoff after hearing testimony Monday through Wednesday.

He also wouldn’t explain exactly why it was necessary to present this case to a grand jury, which is rare in Linn County. But he did say there was an “assertion of self-defense,” so he felt it best to have a grand jury look at the evidence.

[...]

Bagley’s father, Stewart Bagley, said Thursday his family is pleased with the charges. He was aware of the grand jury because Courtney Bagley, Chris’ wife, had testified Monday as a character witness.

[...]

His son’s life started changing about 10 months before his death when he started using methamphetamine. Stewart said he and his wife didn’t realize what was going on until October 2018. Chris “came clean” in November with what was going on and said he “feared for his life.” He promised he would get help after Christmas.

[...]

At a federal detention hearing in April for Andrew Shaw, 31, of Cedar Rapids, who authorities say supplied drugs to Bagley, Blahnik and others, details were laid out of why and how Bagley was killed Dec. 14.

[...]

Former FBI Special Agent Michael Kitsmiller, who now is the Marion police chief, said during the hearing that Bagley was stabbed to death during a fight over robberies he had committed against Shaw.

[...]

Wagner and Blahnik buried Bagley in the yard where Wagner was living, 4069 Soutter Ave. SE, Kitsmiller said.

 

[Ommmm]

Second person indicted on charges for murdering Chris Bagley

“A grand jury now accuses Drew Wagner of the same three charges that Drew Blahnik is facing: first-degree murder, obstructing prosecution, and abusing a corpse.... Wagner is not in custody as of Friday morning and is wanted on these new charges.“

 

[24Roses]

Second person indicted on charges for murdering Chris Bagley

“A grand jury now accuses Drew Wagner of the same three charges that Drew Blahnik is facing: first-degree murder, obstructing prosecution, and abusing a corpse.... Wagner is not in custody as of Friday morning and is wanted on these new charges.“

Drew Wagner is in custody now. He turned himself in Friday night! I wonder if there will be more arrests? Second man facing murder charge in the Chris Bagley case turns himself in

 

[PommyMommy]

Paul Hoff has also been indicted, although he is not charged with murder.

OCT 31, 2019
Charges brought against second Cedar Rapids man in Chris Bagley murder

[...]

According to Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden tells CBS2/FOX 28 Paul Hoff has been indicted by a Linn County Grand Jury, accused of obstructing prosecution and abuse of a corpse.

[...]

Vander Sanden said he could not confirm or deny whether there are any additional indictments at this point.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

So, now we have three people being charged in CB's case.

• Drew Blahnik indicted on First-Degree Murder, Obstructing Prosecution and Abuse of a Corpse. 32-year-old charged in death of Linn County man

• Drew Wagner arrested for First-Degree Murder, Preventing Apprehension, and Abuse of a Corpse. Second man facing murder charge in the Chris Bagley case turns himself in

• Paul Hoff indicted for Obstructing Prosecution and Abuse of a Corpse. Charges brought against second Cedar Rapids man in Chris Bagley murder

Now we're getting somewhere! MOO

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 4, 2019
Drew Wagner court appearance in Bagley murder case scheduled
[…]

Friday morning, charges against Wagner were announced during a hearing for Drew Blahnik, the first person announced as being indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, obstructing prosecution and abuse of a corpse.

Wagner faces those same three charges.

Wagner's preliminary hearing will be on November 12 at 8:30 a.m.

NOV 7, 2019
Two charged with Bagley murder to be arraigned on same date
[…]

Drew Blahnik and Drew Wagner's arraignment is scheduled to be on November 15th. They do have the ability to deliver a written arraignment by 3 p.m. on the 14th.

Blahnik and Wagner are both charged with first-degree murder, obstructing prosecution, and abusing a corpse.

[…]

NOV 8, 2019
Feds seek cash, cars, more from Cedar Rapids marijuana trafficker
A Cedar Rapids man who shipped in BMW vehicles packed with marijuana and flew in multiple pounds of the drug each month from California for the last eight years will now have to forfeit cash and other goods as part of his conviction.

[...]

Shaw’s property that is subject to forfeiture includes $19,322 in cash; a 2012 Chevrolet Camero SS; a 2003 Ford Mustang GT G; a 2010 GMC Terrain SLT-2; a man’s Rolex Datejust II watch; and six luxury men’s watches.

[…]

Shaw told authorities when he began selling marijuana in 2010, he would receive about 10 pounds of marijuana each week from a source in Minnesota, according to court documents. He paid $3,000 a pound and continued to purchase from this supplier for a couple of years.

[…]

In 2016, Shaw started working with a new California source and received 160 to 200 pounds of marijuana a week. Shaw continued to work with that source until he was arrested in March.

The move into distributing THC cartridges used for vaping began in April 2017, Shaw told authorities. He started with 30 cartridges but worked up to distributing thousands.

Shaw estimated he bought 10,000 cartridges each month at $10 each and sold them for $20 — making about $100,000 profit each month, court documents show.

In addition, the source would ship BMW vehicles full of 160 to 200 pounds of marijuana to Shaw’s business, Shaw told authorities.

[…]

Shaw estimated in the year before his arrest, he sold about 300 pounds of marijuana a month, making about $250 to $300 of profit per pound. Using those estimates, he was bringing in between $75,000 to $90,000 each month.

On March 26, when law enforcement obtained several search warrants for locations associated with Shaw, they recovered $19,322 in cash from a backpack and his wallet after authorities found him hiding in the office building next to his business on Capitol Drive, according to court documents.

[…]

Some of the information regarding Shaw’s trafficking came out during his federal detention hearing in April.

It also was at that hearing that details were revealed about why and how Bagley, 31, of Walker, may have been killed.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 12, 2019
Drew Wagner pleads not guilty in Chris Bagley murder case
Drew Wagner, 34, entered the not guilty plea Tuesday, according to newly filed court documents. He turned himself on the evening of Nov. 1 after authorities announced charges against him that morning. His bond was set at $1,000,000 cash.

Drew Wagner pleads not guilty in murder of Chris Bagley
[...]

Drew Wagner entered a written not guilty plea Tuesday morning.

[…]

Wagner will no longer have to appear for an arraignment, which was scheduled for November 15th. That hearing was to be a joint arraignment for Wagner and Blahnik, who face the same charges for Bagley's murder.

Wagner also waived his right to a speedy trial and waived his right to have a trial date set within seven days of his plea. He's requesting a trial date be set at his next court appearance, which has not yet been set.

[...]

NOV 15, 2019
Drew Blahnik pleads not guilty in death of Chris Bagley
The attorney for a man accused of stabbing and killing Chris Bagley turned in his plea Friday morning. Drew Blahnik is pleading not guilty to murder, obstruction and abuse of a corpse in the case.

Drew Blahnik enters plea of not guilty, trial set in Chris Bagley murder case

[...]

Blahnik also waived his right to a speedy trial but requested that a trial date be set immediately. He also requested a pre-trial conference.

According to court records, Wagner and Blahnik will both have a pre-trial conference December 13.

[…]

If they reaffirm their not guilty pleas, or if the court refuses plea agreements, the case will go to trial.

A jury trial has been set for both men for February 3rd.

Drew Blahnik is being represented by Leon Spies, who is also handling other high-profile criminal cases such as Jerry Burns, the man accused of killing Michelle Martinko, and Roy Browning, who was recently charged in the murder of his wife.

Drew Wagner's defense attorney is Thomas Gaul.

@SharonNeedles, see BBM

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 15, 2019
Trial for two accused in Chris Bagley stabbing death to start February 3
Two men accused in the stabbing death of an Iowa man are scheduled to go on trial Feb. 3.

[…]

Investigators have said Blahnik has confessed to stabbing Bagley in retaliation for his robbery of a large-scale marijuana trafficker.

NOV 21, 2019
https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/former-aryan-brotherhood-member-paul-
A former member of the Aryan Brotherhood, charged in state court with covering up and lying to police in the fatal stabbing of [URL='https://www.thegazette.com/topic?eid=2788742459&ename=Chris%20Bagley&lang=en']Chris Bagley, was sentenced Thursday to more than 18 years in federal prison on firearm and drug charges.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams called Paul Hoff, 40, a “dangerous and out-of-control person.”

Hoff, he said, has had 16 convictions as an adult, many of them violent in nature involving the assault of law enforcement and other people. The judge also noted Hoff’s former membership in the Aryan Brotherhood, a neo-Nazi group active in prisons.

[…]

Hoff, during the sentencing, said he knows what he did was wrong and put people at risk.

He apologized to the Bagley family, who were in the courtroom, for not coming forward sooner with information about the death of Chris Bagley, 31, of Walker.

He told the judge he wants to change and “do the right thing.”

Williams chose not to sentence Hoff at the top of the sentencing guidelines — 27 years — as prosecutors had requested and instead set the sentence just below the bottom of the range at 224 months.

The judge noted Hoff’s history of mental illness and serious drug addiction.

[…]

During an interview with authorities on Dec. 22 in the Bagley investigation, Hoff said Bagley was at his trailer on Dec. 14 with a woman, according to a search warrant. But Hoff is accused of lying and saying Bagley left the trailer between 7 and 7:30 a.m. that morning.

According to a federal court hearing in April, authorities said Bagley was killed during a fight over drug robberies of Andrew Shaw, 31, of Cedar Rapids, a convicted, large-scale marijuana trafficker.
[/URL]
Bagley, Blahnik, Wagner and Hoff all sold drugs for Shaw, according to testimony.

[…]

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 21, 2019
Man tied to Chris Bagley murder apologizes to Bagley family during federal sentencing
Paul Hoff has been sentenced to 224 months (18 1/2 years) in prison on federal gun and drug charges.

Hoff was sentenced Thursday evening after accepting a plea agreement...

[…]

Bagley's family was in the courtroom as Hoff learned his fate on his federal charges. They were surprised when, given the opportunity to speak, Hoff turned to look at them.

"I wasn't expecting an apology," Chris' father Stewart Bagley said outside the U.S. District Court. "When he kept looking back at us it actually, after talking to my wife and Courtney, it actually made us uneasy."

[…]

While the judge detailed Hoff's prior criminal history, calling him a "career criminal" who was "making a living off poison he was distributing in the community" he gave Hoff a much lighter sentence than the Bagleys had anticipated.

"That 18 1/2 years is not even close to the 76 days he put our family through. That's how long it was before he gave up where Chris was located," Stewart says.

[…]

During sentencing, the judge called Hoff "dangerous and out of control," citing a shotgun, handgun, and bulletproof vest found in his car in one law enforcement stop. He also cited Hoff's prior conviction of escape, his poor performance under supervision, and his ties to the Aryan Brotherhood.

"Staggering," Stewart Bagley says of what he heard in court. "They showed that he was progressing."

[…]

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 25, 2019
Man claims error in sentencing
[…]

Paul Hoff will be back in court on Tuesday so a judge can hear his argument.

Hoff was sentenced to 224 months in prison after accepting a plea agreement on gun and drug charges.

He claims the court incorrectly added 60 extra months to his sentence. Hoff claims, per federal guidelines, his correct sentence should be 164 months.

[…]

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 26, 2019
Cedar Rapids man re-sentenced in federal drug and gun conviction
[…]

Paul Hoff's attorney says he noticed the error late last Thursday after Hoff was sentenced, later filing a motion saying the correct sentence should be just over 13 years.

[…]

The judge agreed an error was made, but did not reduce his sentence to what Hoff was hoping for.

He's now sentenced to 178 months or about 14.8 years in prison.

[…]

Not present in the courtroom Tuesday: the family of Chris Bagley.

Stewart Bagley tells CBS2/Fox 28 he was unable to make this unexpected hearing because he just started working again. He had previously been off of work due to the stress and emotional toll of his son's death.

[…]

NOV 27, 2019
Man charged in Chris Bagley's fatal stabbing receives less federal time due to judge's sentencing mistake
A judge miscalculated a federal prison sentence for a Cedar Rapids man, charged in the fatal stabbing of Chris Bagley, on firearm and drug charges, which decreased his term to 14 years.

[…]

Williams granted the motion and cut the 18- year sentence to 14 years. He apparently double counted or miscounted an enhancement that qualified Hoff as a career offender.

[…]

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 4, 2019
Man connected to murder of Chris Bagley pleads not guilty to charges
Paul Hoff filed a written plea Wednesday of not guilty to obstructing prosecution and abuse of a corpse.

Man connected to Chris Bagley death pleads not guilty
Hoff is already serving a 14 year sentence after pleading guilty to federal drug and firearms charges.

DEC 9, 2019
Trial set for third man connected to Chris Bagley killing

Hoff is scheduled for jury trial January 13th, according to court records filed December 6th.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 16, 2019
Trial reset to July for two men accused of stabbing Chris Bagley
The trial for two men charged in the fatal stabbing of Chris Bagley last December has been set tentatively for July 6 in Linn County District Court.

Drew Blahnik and Drew Wagner, both 32, of Cedar Rapids, were in court Monday for a pretrial hearing. ...

Sixth Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns said the trial date is tentative because both men may ask the court to separate their cases, and both could ask for a change of venue.

Wagner plans to hire a private attorney, instead of using a public defender. His new attorney may have an issue with the July date, Bruns also pointed out.

[...]

Trial moved back for two men accused of killing Chris Bagley
After marking one year since their son, husband and father was murdered, the family of Chris Bagley filled a Linn County courtroom to face his accused killers.

[...]

Attorneys discussed the sharing of evidence and the state and defense agreed there's just too much to go through for that original date to work.

[...]

The Bagley's have been expecting the trial to get pushed back. They've also been waiting for the trials to be separated, which was something that was also brought up in Monday's hearing.

"I think, like he said, I think they're waiting for the motion of discovery, where they go through the evidence. I'm guessing that's where they're going to get their, to me, it's one against each other. I'm expecting one to testify against the other," Chris' father Stewart Bagley said.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 30, 2019
One of two men accused of Chris Bagley murder asks for change of venue

• Drew Wagner's atty Mark Brown filed a change of venue motion on Dec 29th, saying media coverage and SM comments from CB's family showed pre-trial prejudice, and there's concern the jury pool is contaminated.
  
• The defense also refers to Wagner being tied to co-defendant Drew Blahnik. The motion says it is inflammatory to link the two men and a jury may be influenced by articles talking about Wagner's drug charges in Linn County and what the defense calls "mis-information as to Wagner and alleged facts (holding the deceased down)."
  
• Documents also say Bagley's family attacked Wagner on SM. Brown points to a FB page "Justice for Christopher Bagley" where he says threats were made against Wagner.
• A separate filing Dec 26th shows Wagner is formally pleading not guilty and highlights some possible affirmative defenses he may use such as self-defense or defense of others, intoxication or incapacitatation, diminished capacity, and possible PTSD or other condition.
• Bagley vanished in Dec 2018, and his remains were found earlier this year at a home on Soutter Ave SE in Cedar Rapids. Wagner lived at the home.

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 2, 2020
New trial date set for man charged in relation to Chris Bagley murder

• Paul Hoff is scheduled for a jury trial on Aug 17th, 2020 per court documents filed Jan 2. He was originally to stand trial on Jan 13th.
• He is charged with obstructing prosecution and abuse of a corpse and is pleading not guilty.

 

[JerseyGirl]

A February 2021 murder trial for Drew Blahnik will be held in Linn County, a judge decided late Monday evening.

Blahnik is set to face jury trial on February 15th.

Drew Blahnik murder trial, set for February 15th, will not be moved out of Linn County