What happened to Delbert Shafer?

Delbert Shafer was found unresponsive at his Ohio home in January 2018. One of his sons, David, was the first to find the crime scene and call first responders. Shafer's death was soon declared a homicide after an autopsy determined the cause of death was from blunt force injuries to the head.

Suspicion soon fell on Shafer's son David, who had a violent past and at the time was out on probation after spending prison time on unrelated burglary charges. Detectives soon discovered that the suspect had stolen his deceased father's entire gun collection. Authorities believed David attacked the victim and then allowed him to die instead of calling for medical assistance.

Evil Lives Here on ID is scheduled to revisit Delbert Shafer's murder case in an episode titled I Will Always Be Scared of Him. The official synopsis of the episode states:

The upcoming episode will air on the channel this Sunday, April 30, at 8 pm ET.

Delbert Shafer was reportedly attacked by his ex-convict son, who then scrubbed the crime scene instead of calling for help

On January 14, 2018, Delbert Shafer, a law enforcement officer from Leetonia, Ohio, was found unresponsive in his home by his son David, who then called for help. Shafer was pronounced dead at the scene, and his demise initially appeared to be of natural cause. However, three days later, an autopsy revealed that he died of blunt force injuries to his head, trunk, and extremities.

Once the case was ruled to be a homicide, suspicion fell on Shafer's son David, who claimed he called his nurse friend after finding his father unresponsive. The nurse in question allegedly came over and checked his father with a stethoscope, which led him to believe that the victim was fine. However, when authorities asked him for the nurse's friend's name, David told them he couldn't remember her name.

Authorities soon learned that David was out on parole from a previous conviction at the time and that Shafer took him in because he did not have a place to stay. David was previously convicted in Pennsylvania on multiple burglary and theft-related charges.

Deborah Williamson, Delbert Shafer's ex-wife and David's the stepmother, told authorities how the suspect was “manipulative and defiant” even when he was a child and had even threatened her before. Authorities also learned about David's violent and anger-filled fits from family members.

Further investigation led the police to discover that Shafer's complete gun collection was missing from the house and when questioned about it, David asserted that he gave the guns away. However, asearch proved otherwise when they found most of the guns were in the suspect’s possession, which was hidden in a secret room. David also claimed that he was the only beneficiary of Shafer's will.

Authorities believed Delbert Shafer was attacked by his son David, who, instead of calling for medical assistance, tried to clean up the crime scene and lied to the police about what happened. David was subsequently arrested and charged with tampering with evidence, having weapons under disability, and murder.

Reports state that David later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, tampering with evidence, and possessing weapons charges and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

ID's Evil Lives Here will further delve into Delbert Shafer's murder by son this Sunday.

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