After Starting to Date His Ex's Sister, a Colorado Mailman Was Executed in Broad Daylight

A Colorado mailman slain by a masked assailant while on his routine postal route is the focal point of the most recent episode of Crime in Progress on A&E. The riveting investigation unfolds minute by minute entirely through raw police body cam and surveillance footage.

On the afternoon of October 13, 2021, police responded to a call of a shooting of a United States Postal Service worker gunned down while attempting to make deliveries in a Longmont, Colo., neighborhood. Despite first responders’ efforts to resuscitate the victim, identified as Jason Schaefer, they pronounced him dead at the scene, according to police reports obtained by A&E Crime + Investigation. Schaefer, a 33-year-old dad, died from three gunshot wounds to the head and back.

Witnesses told police they saw what they believed was man in a dark hoodie and blue face mask flee the area after sounds of gunfire erupted, police reports read. Neighborhood doorbell cameras corroborated the claims and captured a black Nissan Rogue speeding out of the neighborhood moments later, according to authorities.

USPS supervisor Jessica Price alleged to investigators that she was aware Schaefer was currently in the middle of a heated custody dispute with his ex, Devan Schreiner. Price said Schaefer may have served her with court papers regarding the custody arrangement for their then-5-year-old son earlier that morning, according to police.

“They’ve been having some problems,” Price said, according to the reports.

Vickie Stevens, USPS Postmaster of Longmont, told detectives on the scene that Schaefer “had problems with his baby mama. She did work with us for a brief moment. I thought she was a little bit strange and all.”

Schreiner, 26, was previously employed at the Longmont post office with Schaefer but recently started working at a location in Loveland, Colo., authorities determined.

Tensions between Schaefer and Schreiner continued to escalate since the victim began dating Schreiner’s younger sister, Rosa Shore. Shore alleged to police that Schaefer had received threats from his ex that her new boyfriend, A.J. Ritchie, would shoot him. Shore said she had “no doubt” her sister and Ritchie, 38, were involved in Schaefer’s death.

“She is just extremely angry that I have what she wants, which is a family,” Shore alleged to investigators, according to police footage. “In the past, she threatened Jason. She said, ‘AJ knows where you live, and he has his guns.’”

Authorities brought Schreiner in for questioning.

“It looked like a hit,” a detective told Schreiner, who denied any involvement. “Looks like someone pulled up, ran out, shot him, ran back to the car, sped off.

“They didn’t steal anything from him. This wasn’t a road rage case. Somebody shot him because they were really upset with him. They shot him in cold blood...and let him bleed to death. That’s someone who knows this guy.”

The investigation placed Schreiner and her black SUV at the crime scene, and she was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder. Meanwhile, Ritchie admitted to investigators that Schreiner had previously talked about killing Schaefer on multiple occasions. Citing Snapchat evidence, authorities alleged Ritchie received a photo the day of the murder of Schreiner “wearing clothing nearly identical to that being worn by the shooter,” a police report reads.

Furthermore, Ritchie alleged he followed the victim on his mail route the morning of the shooting and confronted him. He said he warned Schaefer that he was pushing Schreiner “over the line and that he needed to watch out for her,” according to authorities. Afterward, he claimed he had left the area. When asked why he never contacted police about Schreiner’s repeated threats to kill her ex, Ritchie claimed he didn’t think she would follow through, authorities said. He was subsequently taken into custody on a charge of complicity.

In 2023, Schreiner and Ritchie were both convicted of first-degree murder. They are each serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. Schaefer’s mother was granted custody of his son.