A Shasta County killer has been given a prison sentence that assures he will never walk free again. Monday was the sentencing hearing for 60-year-old Stephen Schlapia, who was convicted in August of the torture murder of 47-year-old Jimmy Wade Schwerdt in March of 2022. Schwerdt had gone to Schlapia’s home on Fernie Way off Bear Mountain Road to retrieve his Harley-Davidson motorcycle that Schlapia had stolen from him the night before. Schwerdt was shot in the back, rendering him paralyzed, then beaten with a bar, then set on fire and finally shot again in the back of the head. Schwert’s family was in the courtroom Monday to confront Schlapia and tell him how they felt. He was sentenced to 27 years, followed by life without the possibility of parole, followed by another 25 years.
-Steve Gibson