Sheafe was raised as a Christian, and he told Clark that he had a good childhood, had never been victimized by anyone in the Christian faith, and that his mental health was sound.
Speaking to Whitney, Sheafe said that the Bible’s first commandment says that God alone is God, but pastors are “preaching that Jesus is God’s only Son, and God also. That’s not what God said. Very clearly he said that he alone is God; it’s the first commandment.”
“And so with the belief that Jesus is the only Son of God, and God, God’s laws were annulled entirely,” said Sheafe.
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Sheafe later explained what he meant by putting “one of the tribes of Israel in each of their right ears,” which was that he had a leader strap with one of the Israelite tribes inscribed on one side of it and the first commandment on the other. It was one such strap that he hammered through Schonemann’s ear with a rusty wire.
Sheafe said that when he got arrested, he had more leather straps and crowns of thorns prepared for the next two people he was planning to kill.
Regarding why he chose the states where he planned to kill the church leaders, Sheafe said he wanted to “circle” the U.S. He chose a location near Phoenix for the first murder because that was where he was born. The last murder was to have been in Phoenix, where he was baptized, “which I don’t appreciate,” he said.
“It starts in the Garden of Eden, ends in the Garden of Eden,” said Sheafe.
Throughout the interview, Whitney offered counterarguments to Sheafe’s views, including that Schonemann was a kind man who served in his community who did not deserve to be murdered and that murder is wrong. Sheafe’s consistent response was to justify his actions based on his claim that pastors are sinning by breaking God’s first commandment when they teach that Jesus is God.
At one point, Sheafe was going on about the decline of society, and Whitney interjected, “If you’re talking about sin, murder is a sin.”
Sheafe agreed but said, “God also commanded us to execute anyone that’s preaching that someone other than him is God because it’s that serious.”
When Whitney asked how Sheafe chose whom to kill, he said, “I just let the spirit follow me, wherever I landed.”
