A prominent Arizona businessman and his wife bounced across a runway and aborted a landing in chaotic moments before dying in a fiery runway crash, authorities revealed.
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 botched landing attempt.
According to a preliminary report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the couple’s single-engine Piper PA-32R-301T aircraft exploded in a fireball when it veered off the runway.
The report said the Sheafes were returning from a cross-country trip to Indianapolis, and Chris – who was piloting the aircraft – had refueled in Springerville, Arizona shortly before the crash.
On the short journey to Marana Airport, the plane landed on the ‘short runway’, leading Chris to briefly touch down before aborting the landing with 1,975 feet of runway remaining.
The aircraft then performed a ‘go-around’ for a second landing attempt, but this time Chris landed with just 1,500 feet of runway left.
The NTSB said the aircraft ‘bounced back airborne several times’ during the botched landing, before swerving off the runway and bursting into flames.
Following news of the couple’s deaths, their son Adam Sheafe, 51, used the tragedy to try and avoid the death penalty as he faces sentencing for murdering and mutilating 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 botched landing attempt
Chris Sheafe, who was piloting the couple’s aircraft, failed his first landing and performed a ‘go-around’ for a second attempt, but left himself only 1,500 feet of 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 and avoid the death penalty as he faces sentencing for murdering and mutilating a man in New River, Arizona in April 2025
The couple’s murderer son Adam pleaded guilty to killing 76-year-old pastor William Schonemann in March, and previously requested the death penalty to speed up the court proceedings.
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But after learning his father and stepmother were killed in the fiery plane crash, the killer asked prosecutors to consider taking the death penalty off the table, reports the Tucson Daily Star.
Adam Sheafe requested to be sentenced to life in prison instead, and prosecutors said they would take the conditions under consideration ahead of his next hearing.
While the 51-year-old is an admitted killer who confessed to killing and mutilating a pastor, his father and stepmother were accomplished and well-known in the Arizona business world.
His father Chris was a prominent regional developer behind numerous commercial and residential projects around the Tucson area.
His work included the ritzy Ventana Country Club golf resort and the exclusive Rancho del Lago, a golf–centered gated community about 25 miles south of Tucson where homes can go for more than $500,000.
His wife Jacque had worked as a sales consultant at PulteGroup since 2010, according to a public LinkedIn profile.
Jacque’s public social media presence reveals that she was a University of Arizona alum with a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and medical technology.
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The couple’s murderer son Adam pleaded guilty to killing 76-year-old pastor William Schonemann in March, and previously requested the death penalty to speed up the court proceedings
76-year-old Pastor William Schonemann was found dead and covered in blood, with his body spread out and hands pinned to the wall, at his New River home on April 28, 2025. In March, Sheafe admitted to his murder
Chris Sheafe was a well-known businessman in Arizona, and was a prominent regional developer behind numerous commercial and residential projects around the Tucson area
His wife Jacque Sheafe was also aboard the plane and killed in the fiery crash after the aircraft carrying the couple veered off the runway
The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft carrying the Sheafes was a Piper P32R that had last taken off from Springerville (Photo of a different plane of the same model)
Arizona Rep. Juan Ciscomani said Thursday night on X that he was ‘deeply saddened to hear of [sic] tragic and unexpected passing’ of the Sheafes.
He remembered the businessman as a ‘dear friend’ who was a ‘wise and thoughtful man who generously shared his time with the people and causes he believed in.’
Ciscomani wrote: ‘Chris devoted decades to making the American Dream a reality as a homebuilder and was a driving force in shaping Tucson’s hospitality industry as a partner in the company that constructed the Loews Ventana Canyon Hotel.’
The congressman lauded the businessman’s work with the Tucson International Airport Authority or the Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association as signs of ‘just how passionately he cared about the community he called home for the past 50 years.’
A longtime friend of the couple, Bill Assenmacher, said he would miss the couple after learning that they had died.
‘Chris was truly a gentleman that everybody respected and emulated his involvement in the community,’ Assenmacher told KVOA.
Assenmacher added: ‘He was a wonderful human being 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 set it up for a dinner party,’ Assenmacher told the outlet.
