A murder case against a Stayton man accused of shooting his aunt to death in 2021 has been dismissed after prosecutors decided they could not gain a conviction.
Brian “Charles” Schaefer, 41, was scheduled to stand trial March 27 in Marion County Circuit Court on charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.
On Feb. 23, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office asked that the charges be dismissed because they could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Further investigation reveals it would be in the interest of justice that said action be dismissed,” said the prosecution’s motion for dismissal.
Schaefer was arrested Jan. 10, 2021, following the shooting death of aunt Karen Schaefer, 71, at a home they shared on the 300 block of W. Water St., in Stayton.
With the charges dismissed, Schaefer has no other cases pending in Oregon.
