Tag Archives: Jessica Schaffhausen

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Man who killed 3 daughters gets life in prison

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Just over a year after a Wisconsin man killed his three daughters to get back at his ex-wife, he was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.

A jury found in April that 35-year-old Aaron Schaffhausen was sane when he killed 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia at their River Falls home.

Schaffhausen had admitted he killed the girls in July 2012 to get back at his ex-wife, but argued he had a mental defect that kept him from knowing it was wrong.

Life sentences were mandatory in each girl’s death, but Schaffhausen had the prospect of supervised release after at least 20 years in prison. That was rejected by St. Croix County Circuit Judge Howard Cameron.

In filings shortly before sentencing, prosecutors asked for consecutive life terms with no possibility of release, citing the nature of the killings and what they said was a lack of remorse. Defense attorneys argued that Schaffhausen suffers from mental illness.

Evidence showed that Schaffhausen texted his ex-wife on July 10, 2012, to ask for an unscheduled visit with the girls. She consented but said he had to be gone before she got home because she didn’t want to see him. The girls’ baby sitter told investigators the children were excited when he arrived, and the sitter left.

He called his ex-wife, Jessica Schaffhausen, about two hours later, saying: “You can come home now, I killed the kids.”

Police arrived to find the girls lying in their beds, their throats slit and their blankets pulled up to their necks. White T-shirts were tied around their necks. Cecilia’s body also showed signs of strangulation.

Trial testimony showed that in the months leading up to the killings, Schaffhausen told several people he had thoughts of killing his daughters. His ex-wife testified that in March 2012, he called her from Minot, N.D. — where he was working — and told her he “wanted to drive down there and tie me up and make me pick which child he killed and make me watch while he killed them.”

He also called his ex-wife repeatedly, sometimes up to 30 times a day, and threatened to kill the man she was dating.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Mom of 3 slain Wis. girls testifies in ex's trial

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The mother of three girls who were killed by their father in what prosecutors say was an act of revenge testified Wednesday that her ex-husband was “catatonically depressed” but began taking medication and seemed to be getting better in 2011.

Aaron Schaffhausen has admitted to killing his three daughters, but claims he was not responsible due to mental illness. Jurors at his trial in St. Croix County will determine whether he was sane at the time of the slayings.

While testifying Wednesday, Jessica Schaffhausen cried when shown a photograph of 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia. “(They’re) my babies” she said.

According to KSTP-TV (http://bit.ly/16wgsdG), Jessica Schaffhausen testified that she met Aaron in a coffee shop and that he was flunking school at the time.

She said he was happy “at times.” She also said he dropped out of school because “he was feeling anxious about it and depressed, and I told him that he needed to get help, that he couldn’t keep going on like this.”

Jessica Schaffhausen said Aaron wasn’t taking care of the kids or helping with chores and was playing video games for eight hours or more. She also said, “I would see him drinking every day, when I would see him.” She said she told him that she wanted him to change or she would divorce him.

The Schaffhausens filed for divorce in August 2011. Aaron Schaffhausen would stay with the girls every other weekend when he was in the area, and Jessica Schaffhausen would go elsewhere.

Earlier Wednesday, jurors also watched a three-hour interview of Aaron Schaffhausen, recorded by police on the day of the killings.

During the first two hours, he is silent. In the final hour, he broke down crying as an investigator asked him about tucking the girls into their beds. When investigators asked if police should look for another suspect, he also shook his head and said, “No.”

Later, he is seen on the videotape saying, “I don’t know what I want; I don’t know what I need. I want my girls back; I want a lot of things. Can you give them to me? Then quit offering the world like you have the keys.” He later said, “I need help.”

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Sanity at issue at dad's trial for killing 3 girls

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Police found a horrifying scene at the Schaffhausen family home in the western Wisconsin city of River Falls last July: three girls dead in their beds, their throats slashed. In the basement, gasoline was sloshed in a possible attempt to burn down their mother’s house.

This week, the girls’ father goes on trial to determine whether he was insane at the time. Aaron Schaffhausen last week conceded guilt on three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one of attempted arson, but maintained that he’s not responsible for his actions due to mental illness.

Prosecutors argue Schaffhausen was perfectly aware of what he was doing, and killed 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia because he was still bitter about their divorce and furious because he thought she had begun seeing another man. Their evidence, according to a criminal complaint, includes a chilling statement to his ex-wife right after the killings: “You can come home now because I killed the kids.”

Jury selection begins Monday in St. Croix County Circuit Court. Trial evidence is expected to include testimony from the girls’ mother, Jessica Schaffhausen, and a recording of the 40-minute 911 call she made to police in River Falls, a community of about 15,000 people about 30 miles east of the Twin Cities.

For Schaffhausen, the stakes are likely the difference between spending the rest of his life in prison, if he’s judged sane, or being committed to a psychiatric institution from which he might someday be released.

“Our office, as well as the attorney general’s office, has put a lot of time into this case, a lot of resources, and I believe we’re both prepared,” District Attorney Eric Johnson said.

Schaffhausen’s public defender, John Kucinski, spent months refusing to concede his client killed the girls. He fought hard in pretrial proceedings to exclude as much damaging evidence as possible, often unsuccessfully, ahead of last week’s plea change.

Even though the focus has shifted to Schaffhausen’s mental state, the lead prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Gary Freyberg, said he’ll present much of the same evidence he had planned to use to prove guilt because he said it shows Schaffhausen understood what he was doing.

Aaron and Jessica Schaffhausen divorced in January 2011. Court papers indicate their marriage had been rocky for several years, and her mother told police the last straw was when Jessica discovered he was lying …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News