A 35-year-old man from Minnesota will serve less than a year in prison for failing to stop and assist his girlfriend when she died after jumping out of a moving truck while he was driving.
According to court papers examined by Law&Crime, Tenth Judicial District Judge Walter M. Kaminsky on Thursday ordered Johnathan James Schafer to serve 364 days in a local jail (with 175 days already spent) followed by three years on probation for the death of 23-year-old Julia Marie Marthaler. Schafer pleaded guilty in September to one count of felony failing to stop after a traffic accident resulting in damage or death and one count of misdemeanor driving while drunk.
The judge also imposed a two-year suspended sentence, which means that if Schafer breaches the terms of his probation at any time, he would have to serve those years in state prison. Such restrictions include refraining from alcohol and drugs, receiving substance abuse and mental health treatment, and completing a driving improvement course, among other things.
According to a probable cause statement, on the night of May 15, Schafer’s mother called 911 and informed a dispatcher from the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office that her son had just called to tell her that his girlfriend “had jumped out of his truck.”
Five minutes later, another woman, later identified as Schafer’s acquaintance, called 911 to report that Schafer had just called and told her that “his girlfriend had jumped out of his truck, that he was not with his girlfriend, and that she was near a cemetery while he was in [Becker City] park.” Schafer stated that he checked on Marthaler and discovered her to be “unresponsive,” but was no longer with her.
Both callers later informed authorities that Schafer sounded inebriated.
Becker Police came to the park and found Schafer in the driver’s seat of his parked truck, talking on his cellphone. Officers approached and reported they “detected the very strong odor of alcohol emitting from inside the vehicle.”
“Officers also discovered blood on the door, handle, and the defendant’s hand. Officers also discovered a shotgun case in the backseat,” the document states. “[Schafer] agreed to travel with Becker officers in an attempt to locate [Marthaler].”
Multiple agencies assisted in the search for Marthaler, who was found resting in the grass several feet from the road in the 5800 block of 140th Avenue Southeast. She appeared to have suffered “severe trauma” and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
According to investigators, Schafer spent more than 42 minutes on the phone with his mother and a friend following the incident, rather than phoning 911 for medical assistance.
In a post-Miranda interview with police, Schafer stated that he and Marthaler went to a bar for supper and both ingested alcohol.
“[Schafer] reported that when they left, [Marthaler] did not want to go home and the two drove around backroads,” according to the statement of claim. “The Defendant stated that an argument erupted, and [Marthaler] leaped out of the vehicle. The defendant indicated that he stopped and checked on [Marthaler], but she was not responding. The defendant indicated that he panicked when he noticed headlights approaching and fled the scene.”
Schafer’s two-year delayed sentence exceeds regular state guidelines, according to documents. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Kaminsky made that decision in response to Schafer’s “unusually cruel treatment” of Marthaler when he moved her body off the side of the road and into taller grass, making her much more difficult to discover.
