On the Agenda (page 33) for the Tuesday, August 25th, St. Louis City Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority Meeting is a second amendment to the contract with S. Shafer Excavating.
The ongoing revenue, nearly $4 Million with the latest contract amendment (Resolution No. 26-LCRA-11046), comes in handy for the company’s owner, Sammy Shafer Jr, defendant in a murder for hire case. Scott Rosenblum, his attorney, does not come cheap.
Sammy J. Shafer Jr has a January 19, 2027, Madison County, Illinois, jury trial date on two charges of first degree murder and two counts of murder for hire. It’s alleged that he arranged and paid $10,000 for the shooting death on January 21, 2025, of Portia Louisa Rowland, Collinsville, Illinois. Rowland was the fiancé of Sarah Shafer, then Shafer Jr’s wife, who had filed for divorce, now finalized. Shafer Jr was denied pre-trial release.
Gary D. Johnson was convicted as the shooter in March and sentenced to life in prison. Marty D. Shaw, his cousin and a then Shafer employee, is alleged to have been the driver for the crime and facilitated the hiring of his cousin and is charged with two counts of first degree murder. The getaway car belonged to Sammy Shafer’s mother but she is not charged.
This is another update to St. Louis Hires Murder Suspect’s Company for Demo Contract
The August 25th amendment to add another $200,000 is a project contingency “In an effort to preempt other potential costs incurred to get the project to completion by the required timeframe.” The project is environmental remediation and demolition services at 4690 and 4700 Goodfellow Boulevard.
On July 28th, LCRA added $21,390 to the contract with S. Schafer Excavating for disconnection and sealing of a tunnel system on neighboring property.
The City of St. Louis and its economic development (corporate welfare) agencies routinely publish Requests for Proposals, award contracts, then amend the contracts over and over.
The Great State of St. Louis 