Aaron schaffhausen trial

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River Falls officers arrived at the scene about the time Jessica pulled up to the house. Upstairs, officers found the three girls dead and tucked into their beds. As the officers were trying to understand what had happened to these children, Aaron showed up at the police department and turned himself in. When asked to describe what he had done, and why, the suspect refused to speak. The autopsies of the three victims revealed they had been murdered by what the forensic pathologist called "sharp force entry.

On July 12, , the St. Croix County district attorney charged Aaron Schaffhausen with three counts of first-degree murder. A few days after filing these charges, the district attorney appointed Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Gary Freyburg to take over the case as a special prosecutor.

Croix County Circuit Judge Scott Needham, on July 24, at Schaffhausen's preliminary hearing, heard testimony from River Falls detective John Wilson who said he found a large pool of blood in one of the bedrooms where he believed the three girls had been stabbed. Wilson also noted that the walls were splattered in blood. The girls, lying on their backs with their eyes wide open, had been tucked into their beds. The woman at the police department who had taken Jessica Schaffhausen's call that afternoon described the caller as "hysterical and hyperventilating.

In early March , Aaron Schaffhausen pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. Although he pleaded guilty he maintained that, due to insanity, he should not be held criminally responsible for his daughters' deaths. On March 5, , at the prosecutor's request, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Erik Knudson interviewed Schaffhausen for seven hours. During that session, Schaffhausen revealed that before the murders he had experienced reoccurring images in his head that featured the violent deaths of his ex-wife and children.

Schaffhausen told Dr. Knudson that on two occasions he had aborted plans to murder the girls. After the killings, Schaffhausen, when he realized he couldn't clean up the murder scene, decided to burn down the house. In furtherance of that plan, he went to the basement and poured gasoline on the floor. He didn't go through with the arson out of fear he would get trapped in the fire.

On March 25, , Aaron Schaffhausen went on trial before a jury that would decide whether or not he had been insane at the time of the murders. Erik Knudson, testifying for the prosecution, opined that the defendant's depression and alcohol dependency had no relevance to why he killed his children.

According to the psychiatrist, the defendant, rather than insane, possessed an antisocial personality disorder. In his closing remarks to the jury following the testimony phase of the trial, Schaffhausen's attorney argued that his client suffered from a rare mental disorder rooted in his deep dependency on his ex-wife that caused him to believe the only solution to his problems involved murdering his children.

The defense attorney blamed the mass murder on what a defense mental health expert had called "catathymic homicide. Notwithstanding Schaffhausen's mental defects, the jurors wanted this defendant held criminally accountable for his murderous behavior. The jurors obviously believed that Schaffhausn, at the time of the murders, knew what he was doing, and that what he was doing was wrong.

Judge Scott Needham, on July 15, , sentenced Aaron Schaffhausen to three consecutive life sentences. Because of the nature of his murders, prison authorities were faced with the likelihood that this prisoner's life will be under constant threat from other inmates. Labels: Murder. RB July 15, at PM. Sue Allen September 15, at PM. Anonymous April 13, at PM. St croix county taxpayer November 2, at PM.

Wigi July 14, at AM. Anonymous September 15, at PM. Anonymous November 2, at AM. Cameron said he chose three consecutive life sentences -- the maximum -- to protect the public and to send a message that "each child is so important.

Evidence showed that Schaffhausen texted his ex-wife July 10, , to ask for an unscheduled visit with the girls. She consented but said he had to leave before she got home. 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 blankets pulled up to their necks.

White T-shirts were tied around their necks. That conversation prompted a nearly minute phone call from the River Falls Police Department. The call was played in court. In it, a defensive Aaron Schaffhausen can be heard explaining that he was upset. In April, Aaron Schaffhausen called to say he wanted to come over and visit the girls while they were asleep. Jessica Schaffhausen said she allowed him to remain a part of their lives because it was important to her daughters.

Even so, she admitted that she feared leaving the girls alone with him because she worried he would forget to feed them or put them to bed on time.

While still on the stand, Jessica Schaffhausen said her ex-husbands neglectful behavior hurt the children. During an interview with police, she had told investigators he had no empathy and that was an ongoing problem in their marriage. Yet, in the months before the slaying, Jessica Schaffhausen said he had changed his tone. Especially in May and June, Aaron Schaffhausen began acting more civil and showed more interest in their children. She testified that she thought he was moving on and therefore felt more comfortable letting him see their daughters.