Judge Finds Barshaw Guilty of First Degree Murder

ST. CLOUD -- A Stearns County judge has found a Walker man guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Jeffrey Schutz of Rockville.

Judge Frederick Grunke also found 30-year-old Marcus Barshaw guilty of first degree assault and assault by use of deadly force against a police officer.

Judge Grunke immediately imposed a prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Barshaw testified during the trial that he didn't kill Schutz and was blacked out drunk during the time of the murder and woke up in the woods. He also denied having an affair with Schutz' wife in the months leading up to the murder. But, Schutz' wife Mandy testified in court that they had a romantic relationship and that she drove to Walker to pick up Barshaw the night before the killing and brought him back to the Schutz home.

Witness accounts show Barshaw shot Jeffrey Schutz with an assault rifle after chasing him through the back yard and down the alley behind the home. Barshaw shot as many as nine rounds, hitting Schutz six times, killing him.

Mandy Schutz has not been charged in the case.