EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (Court TV) — A man convicted of gunning down a woman outside of her home in a hired hit will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Gary Johnson was convicted in a bench trial on charges of murder in the shooting death of Portia Rowland. Rowland was shot and killed while leaving her home on Jan. 27, 2025.
Gary Johnson appears in court for sentencing on April 23, 2026. (Court TV)
At trial, prosecutors said that Johnson had been hired by Rowland’s husband, Sammy Shafer, to kill her as the couple was going through a divorce, Law & Crime previously reported. “This was not a random crime, but was a calculated and cold-hearted murder-for-hire scheme based on a personal grievance,” Madison County State Attorney Tom Haine said when he announced charges in the case.
“They did it because they are filled with hate, jealousy, greed, narcissism, abusiveness, weakness, and never faced accountability,” Bob Miller, Rowland’s stepfather, said in a victim impact statement at Thursday’s sentencing. “They embody pure selfishness, leading to a complete disregard for the value of human life. They are cowards. They are evil half-men, at best. Stains who climbed from humanity’s cesspool.”
Prosecutor Luke Yager listed the aggravating factors in the case, urging the judge to sentence Johnson to the maximum. Among the aggravating factors was a prior conviction for first-degree murder in 1997, for which Johnson was sentenced to 40 years but was released early.
Yager said that Johnson was paid $10,000 to kill the victim. Part of the evidence prosecutors introduced was that Johnson “miraculously came up with $2,206” to pay his back rent one day after the murder; he had previously been served an eviction notice.
Johnson spoke only at the hearing to complain about his attorney as part of a motion he filed requesting new representation. He told Judge Neil Schroeder that his attorney, Mary Copeland, had been ineffective as counsel, in part, because she refused to file a motion to suppress evidence he believed was illegally obtained in the case. When questioned by Schroeder, Copeland explained, “There was no legal basis to file a motion to suppress.” The motion for a new attorney was dismissed for lacking merit.
Copeland immediately filed a motion appealing the sentencing decision, arguing that mandatory sentences “raise significant constitutional issues.” Schroeder denied that motion as well.
Shafer has pleaded not guilty to charges he hired Johnson; his trial is scheduled to begin in April 2027.
