Gruesome final moments of wealthy couple killed in private plane crash with fireball… as their murderous son’s secret is revealed

A prominent Arizona businessman and his wife bounced down a runway and chaotically aborted a landing before dying in a fiery runway crash, authorities revealed.

Chris Sheafe, 82, and his wife Jacque, 74, were tragically killed in a crash at Marana Regional Airport in Tucson, Arizona, on April 8, after a failed landing attempt.

According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the couple’s single-engine Piper PA-32R-301T plane exploded in a fireball when it veered off the runway.

According to the report, the Sheafes were returning from a cross-country trip to Indianapolis, and Chris – who was piloting the plane – had refueled in Springerville, Arizona, shortly before the crash.

On the short journey to Marana Airport, the plane landed on the ‘short runway’, allowing Chris to touch down briefly before aborting the landing with 600 meters of runway remaining.

The aircraft then performed a go-around for a second landing attempt, but this time Chris landed with only 1,500 feet of runway remaining.

The NTSB said the plane “bounced back into the air multiple times” during the failed landing before veering off the runway and catching fire.

Following news of the couple’s deaths, their son Adam Sheafe, 51, used the tragedy to try to avoid the death penalty as he is sentenced for murdering and dismembering a man in New River, Arizona in April 2025.

Chris Sheafe, 82, and his wife Jacque, 74, tragically died in a crash at Marana Regional Airport in Tucson, Arizona, on April 8, after a failed landing attempt

Chris Sheafe, who was piloting the couple’s plane, failed on his first landing and performed a “go-around” for a second attempt, but left himself just 1,500 feet from the runway and crashed, according to a preliminary report released by the NTSB

Following news of the couple’s deaths, their son Adam Sheafe, 51, used the tragedy to try to avoid the death penalty as he is sentenced for murdering and dismembering a man in New River, Arizona in April 2025.

The couple’s killer, Adam, pleaded guilty to the murder of 76-year-old pastor William Schonemann in March, and previously asked for the death penalty to speed up the legal process.

But after learning that his father and stepmother died in the plane crash, the killer asked prosecutors to consider taking the death penalty off the table, the Tucson Daily Star reports.

Adam Sheafe instead requested a life sentence, and prosecutors said they would consider the terms before his next hearing.

Although the 51-year-old is a known murderer who confessed to killing and dismembering a pastor, his father and stepmother were accomplished and well-known in Arizona’s business community.

His father Chris was a prominent regional developer behind numerous commercial and residential projects in the Tucson area.

His work has included the upscale golf resort Ventana Country Club and the exclusive Rancho del Lago, a golf-oriented gated community about 25 miles south of Tucson, where homes sell for more than $500,000.

His wife Jacque has worked as a sales consultant at PulteGroup since 2010, according to a public LinkedIn profile.

Jacque’s public presence on social media reveals that she was an alum of the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and medical technology.

The couple’s killer, Adam, pleaded guilty to the murder of 76-year-old pastor William Schonemann in March, and previously asked for the death penalty to speed up the legal process

76-year-old Pastor William Schonemann was found dead and covered in blood, with his body spread out and his hands pinned to the wall, in his New River home on April 28, 2025. In March, Sheafe admitted to the murder.

Chris Sheafe was a well-known businessman in Arizona and a prominent regional developer behind numerous commercial and residential projects in the Tucson area

His wife Jacque Sheafe was also on board the plane and was killed in the fiery crash after the plane carrying the couple went off the runway.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane carrying the Sheafes was a Piper P32R that last took off from Springerville (photo of another plane of the same model)

Arizona Rep. Juan Ciscomani said Thursday evening on X that he was “deeply saddened to hear” [sic] tragic and unexpected death of the Sheafes.

He remembered the businessman as a “dear friend,” a “wise and thoughtful man who generously shared his time with the people and causes he believed in.”

Ciscomani wrote, “Chris worked for decades as a homebuilder to realize the American Dream and was a driving force in shaping Tucson’s hospitality industry as a partner in the company that built the Loews Ventana Canyon Hotel.”

The congressman praised the businessman’s work at the Tucson International Airport Authority and the Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association as signs of “how passionately he cared about the community he called home for the past fifty years.”

A longtime friend of the couple, Bill Assenmacher, said he would miss the couple after hearing of their deaths.

“Chris was truly a gentleman who respected everyone and pursued his involvement in the community,” Assenmacher told KVOA.

Assenmacher added, “He was a wonderful person and a great Christian, and I will miss him. Him and Jacque both.”

“If you were around her, I know she had a background in interior design, and if you ever went into their house, it looked like she had just gotten it ready for a dinner party,” Assenmacher told the outlet.