‘Do it, I dare you’: Man guilty of fatally shooting driver in head in Haysville
A Wichita man has pleaded guilty to an amended count of second-degree reckless murder in the shooting death of a 43-year-old Haysville man in September.
James Raymond Standefer, 37, is expected to receive at least 34 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 7 for the killing of Jesse Dean Rau, his plea agreement shows. He was originally charged with first-degree premeditated murder and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Authorities found Rau suffering from a gunshot wound to the head inside an SUV that had crashed into a tree in the 7700 block of South Broadway after 911 received an automated crash detection alert from a cellphone around 3 a.m. on Sept. 7. A probable cause affidavit says Rau was driving Standefer and a woman around while they were hanging out when the men started arguing.
Standefer had been upset about a necklace in Rau’s possession and was also angry over the way Rau was driving, apparently because he was wanted by law enforcement and feared drawing attention, the affidavit says.
The woman who was riding with them told authorities that Standefer pulled a gun, pointed it at the windshield, racked the slide and “shot one shot at the front of the vehicle” before turning it on Rau. The woman told law enforcement after Rau responded with “Do it, Do it, I dare you,” Standefer shot him in the back of the head, the affidavit says.
After the shooting, the SUV veered off the road and crashed into the tree. Standefer fled and was arrested the next day during a SWAT standoff at an apartment complex near Central and Ridge.
Standefer entered the guilty plea on Monday ahead of a preliminary hearing that had been set for later this month.
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