A Sherburne County judge has sentenced a 35-year-old Becker man to less than a year in jail for failing to assist his girlfriend, who died in May after jumping from his moving truck. Johnathan J. Schafer was charged with one felony count of failing to stop after a traffic crash that resulted in injury or death, and one misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated.
He pleaded guilty to both charges in September as part of a plea agreement. Judge Walter Kaminsky handed down the sentence on Thursday, ordering Schafer to serve two years in prison and 364 days in county jail, with credit for 175 days already served. However, the prison term was stayed, meaning Schafer will avoid serving it if he complies with the terms of a three-year probation.
Conditions include completing chemical dependency treatment and abstaining from alcohol and drugs. According to the criminal complaint, a 911 call came in around 9:15 p.m. on May 15 from a woman who said her son, Schafer, told her his girlfriend had jumped from his truck. Five minutes later, another woman called 911, saying Schafer had told her the same thing and that he was at a park, according to the Star Tribune.
Becker police later found Schafer sitting in his truck at a dog park. Officers reported a strong odor of alcohol coming from his vehicle and noted blood on the door, the handle, and Schafer’s hand. Schafer then accompanied officers to search for his girlfriend, identified as 23-year-old Julia M. Marthaler.
Marthaler was found lying in the grass near a rural road in Santiago Township with severe head trauma and was pronounced dead shortly afterward. Investigators determined that Schafer made two phone calls after the incident—one to his mother lasting just over a minute and another lasting about 41 minutes to a second woman. During that time, he never called 911 for help.
Schafer told authorities that he and Marthaler had argued after leaving a bar and that she jumped from the moving vehicle. He claimed he checked on her, but panicked when he saw headlights approaching. Prosecutors argued for a two-year aggravated prison sentence, saying Schafer removed evidence from the scene and hid his location from law enforcement, delaying efforts to find Marthaler’s body.
Defense attorneys urged leniency, saying Marthaler “leapt from the truck under her own force,” leaving Schafer “bewildered, terrified, and grief-stricken.” Judge Kaminsky approved the aggravated sentence, citing Schafer’s “particularly cruel treatment” of Marthaler, noting that he moved her body into tall grass before fleeing the scene.