Thursday, October 1, 2026
A man was sentenced to more than 50 years in state prison for burning a person alive with “homemade napalm” at The Jungle homeless encampment in Olympia.
Christopher Edward Snyder, 32, received a sentence of 638 months at a hearing in Thurston County Superior Court on Wednesday morning, Nov. 26. Judge Christopher Lanese issued the sentence for the murder of Zebediah “Donkey” Schoening.
He was the second man to be convicted in the incident, which occurred on Oct. 8, 2024.
Kevin James Hinzpeter, 32, received a 171.5 month sentence plus mental health treatment for his role in the incident. He pleaded guilty to second degree murder earlier this year.
Prior to the sentencing on Wednesday, the victim’s family addressed the court as Snyder looked on from the defendant’s table clad in a standard-issued, orange jailhouse jumpsuit.
Robin Schoening, the victim’s ex-wife, talked about the two-week period after the incident and how her then 22-year-old daughter had to see her father in critical condition.
“It was a horrible, agonizing two weeks,” said Schoening, who added the incident was no accident and Hinzpeter and Snyder were “out there to kill” her ex-husband.
“This was thought out and purposeful,” she said.
Mariah Schoening, the victim’s daughter, also addressed the court. She talked about her sometimes difficult relationship with her father, as well as her love for him.
“My father did not deserve to be burned,” she said.
Snyder briefly addressed the court before sentencing. He spoke in a hushed tone.
“I know what it’s like to lose a loved one to violence,” said Snyder, who was convicted by a jury on Nov. 11 of multiple charges, including murder in the first degree with a deadly weapon plus arson and two counts of witness tampering.
Lanese first addressed Schoening’s family members, who sat in the front row of the courtroom directly behind Snyder. He expressed his condolences to the family, and then turned his attention to sentencing. Lanese ordered Snyder to concurrently serve 90 months for each count of witness tampering before speaking about the magnitude of the attack.
“Zebediah was burned alive,” said Lanese, who added that of all the ways to die being burned alive was about as bad as it gets. He added, “It is a horrific way for someone to die.”
A short while later, he sentenced Snyder to 548 months in prison for the murder of Schoening. All told, Snyder received 638 months in prison for his role in the attack.
Snyder was later chained and led away by law enforcement personnel from the courtroom. He was expected to be immediately sent to Washington Corrections Center in Shelton before eventually being transferred to another prison.
An investigation determined that Hinzpeter and Snyder walked toward Schoening’s camp at The Jungle shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2024. At some point, they encountered Schoening.
“Several reporting parties called in and provided various bits of information, to include that a male was severely burned and bleeding after being covered in ‘homemade napalm,’” stated Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth A. McMullen in a Declaration of Prosecutor Supporting Probable Cause filed with Superior Court on Oct. 18, 2024.
“Another caller told dispatch that two subjects threw something that was on fire onto the victim. Further it was believed someone threw something on the subject and he had pulled whatever it was off of him.”
Law enforcement personnel responded to the scene after receiving calls about the incident. When a responding officer encountered Schoening, he “was barely conscious with blood all over him and he’d had burns all over him,” the probable cause document states.
The crime scene was littered with evidence from the incident, including a plastic Mountain Dew bottle that smelled like gasoline, blood and a burnt T-shirt on the ground.
“Once collected the smell of gasoline from (the) Mountain Dew bottle became stronger and law enforcement observed that (there) was a clear liquid substance within the bottle, that was not consistent with the color of Mountain Dew,” the probable cause document states.
Schoening was later escorted by a police officer to a nearby parking lot for treatment. On the way, he identified one of his attackers as “No Shirt Kevin,’ the nickname of Hinzpeter.
Schoening was later transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia for treatment. He was intubated and sedated before being transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle due to the severity of his injuries.
Schoening, 47, died in Seattle on Oct. 25, 2024.
5 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Overtaxed
Im glad to hewr that the sentence is likely longer than he will live if he doesn`t get paroled early.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 Report this
Acadian04
Keep an eye on "second chance" legislation in the upcoming session, and think about how it could impact this case.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 Report this
The_Armed_Gardener
Please let's not forget that the land the Jungle is on has been banned for development as it sits on a wetland. That's the light jurisdictual part of the crime. Just consider the enabling of the politics that set this and many, many, many more crimes in motion. Should we leave this here? Do we really care? Do we? Shall we "circle back?" Has our intelligence failed? Has our heart been taken over? Are we just drones or real? You can't be humane or even human and think the Jungle is humane unless drugs or politics have altered you.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 Report this
JW
Compassionate democrats will work hard to get an early release
Thursday, November 27, 2025 Report this
HappyOlympian
What an awful way to go, RIP Schoening.
Thursday, November 27, 2025 Report this