In a case that may turn out to be a military man suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 50-year-old Charles Leroy Shaffer of Fairfield was arrested last night for the stabbing death of his 29-year-old nephew.
According to the Napa County Sheriff’s office, deputies responded to a call at the Napa Vallejo Highway where it meets Highway 12, going south out of Napa and towards Interstate 80 to Fairfield, and arrived about 10:30 at night. The reports were of a stabbing, and emergency medical personnel were also summoned to the scene. They found a 29-year-old man suffering from stab wounds, and after initial treatment, he was transported to the Queen of the Valley hospital. Daniel Joseph Shaffer of Fairfield was pronounced dead of his wounds soon afterward.
The two people also on the scene were Charles Shaffer, Daniel’s uncle, and Daniel’s girlfriend, identified in a Napa Valley register story as 28-year-old Amanda Shuster. Investigators determined that the couple were giving Charles Shaffer a ride home after a family Christmas gathering in Napa. Shuster was driving, and Charles Shaffer was in the back seat. From that back seat, at some point during the ride, Shaffer pulled out a knife and attacked Daniel, giving him the ultimately fatal wounds.
According to Mike Blasky of the Napa Valley Register, the attack on Daniel was not preceded by any argument or fight. Shaffer had stayed at the family party later than his wife and son, and he caught a ride home to Fairfield with Daniel and Amanda. They had reportedly been laughing and joking during the drive, and the sudden attack came out of nowhere, according to a quote from Shuster.
Charles Shaffer, a 30-year veteran of the US Air Force, who posted a picture of himself in Afghanistan in 2011 in full combat gear, was arrested and charged with murder, and booked at the Napa County Department of Corrections.
Read More: Napa Valley Register
