CECILIA, SOPHIE and AMARA SCHAFFHAUSEN - 5 to 11 yo/ Convicted: Father; Aaron Schaffhausen - River Falls WI

Western Wis. police investigate apparent triple homicide involving father, 3 daughters

By The Associated Press
CREATED Jul. 10, 2012

RIVER FALLS- Three girls are dead and their father is in jail as police investigate an apparent triple homicide in the western Wisconsin city of River Falls.

A news release says officers were dispatched about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when girls' mother called police to express concern because of statements made by the father.

Police arrived to find the bodies of three girls, ages 5 to 11, who appeared to fit the descriptions of the children living there. Police reported the smell of gas in the home, but did not identify the cause of their deaths.

The 34-year-old father later turned himself in to police.

Police say the mother is safe and is assisting police.

River Falls Police Chief Roger Leque says there's no danger to the rest of the community.

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/162012005.html

River Falls: Father a suspect in death of 3 young daughters

By Elizabeth Mohr, Pioneer Press
Posted: 07/10/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT
Updated: 07/11/2012 10:38:49 AM CDT


Aaron Schaffhausen

A River Falls father has been arrested on suspicion of homicide after three girls -- presumably his daughters -- were found dead in his ex-wife's home.

Aaron Schaffhausen, 34, was booked into the St. Croix County jail at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 10 on probable cause for three counts of first-degree intentional homicide, according to jail staff.

The Schaffhausen girls, identified by Greenwood Elementary School officials, were: Amara, who was about to start sixth grade; Sophie, going into third grade; and Cecilia, an incoming kindergartener.

The girls' mother called police Tuesday "with concerns for their physical safety due to statements made from the father of the children concerning their well-being," according to a statement from River Falls officials.

Officers went to the home at 2790 Morningside Ave. about 3:30 p.m. and were met by the odor of natural gas filling the house.

The girls were found dead. No one else was in the home at the time.

Officials have not said how they were killed.

They were ages 5 to 11.

Schaffhausen turned himself in to police a short time after police found his daughters.

Police spokesman Scot Simpson said more information will be released Wednesday morning and afternoon.

Wisconsin court records show Aaron and Jessica Schaffhausen filed for divorce in August. When the divorce was granted in January, Aaron Schaffhausen listed his address as Minot, N.D.

The couple was granted joint legal custody of their children, with primary placement with the mother in River Falls.

The mother is safe and is assisting in the investigation, police said.

Greenwood Elementary officials said in a letter to parents that staff, counselors and a district crisis team were meeting to "help our school community deal with this tragedy."

Staff will be available at the school from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday for children and their families.

"A memorial is beginning to form in the front courtyard at Greenwood, and students are welcome to contribute to that," the school's statement said. "There is also a signing wall being developed outside the main office."

"All of us (are) saddened by this tragedy," said River Fall Police Chief Roger Leque, adding that there is no remaining danger to the community.

The home where the girls lived is in a newer subdivision on the eastern edge of town near the River Falls Golf Course. Late Tuesday night, police had cordoned off much of the street where the house is located.

Several neighbors watched the commotion outside their homes and expressed shock over the deaths of the three girls.

"It was a quiet family," said Chrissy Petersen.

Another neighbor, Ashley Bauman, said, "The girls were always really friendly. They would be out playing" in the neighborhood.

MaryJo Webster, Andy Greder and Andy Rathbun contributed to this report.

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_21047123/river-falls-wis-apparent-homicide-reported

Aaron Schaffhausen Murdered Daughters Amara, Sophie, Cecilia, Wisconsin Cop Say










Amara, Cecilia, and Sophie Schaffhausen were found tucked
in their beds, killed by "sharp force injuries" to the neck.


MADISON, Wis. — A North Dakota man killed his three young
daughters after they rushed to greet him during a surprise visit and
left their bodies tucked in their beds, Wisconsin authorities said in
court documents released Thursday.

St. Croix County prosecutors filed a criminal complaint charging
Aaron Schaffhausen, 34, with three counts of first-degree intentional
homicide. Each count carries a mandatory life sentence.

Circuit Judge Howard W. Cameron set Schaffhausen's bail at
$2 million Thursday and ordered him to have no contact with the girls'
mother or her immediate family. Schaffhausen's attorney, listed in
online court records as public defender John Kucinski, didn't
immediately respond to a telephone message left at his office.

Autopsy results showed 11-year-old Amara Schaffhausen, 8-year-old
Sophie Schaffhausen and 5-year-old Cecilia Schaffhausen died from "sharp
force injury" to the neck. Cecilia also had been strangled, according
to the complaint.

The girl's mother, Jessica Schaffhausen, and Aaron Schaffhausen
divorced this past January. He lived in Minot while the girls lived with
their mother in River Falls, a city of 15,000 about 30 miles east of
the Twin Cities, in a house she rented from her ex-husband, according to
the complaint.

Investigators wrote in the complaint that Aaron Schaffhausen texted
his ex-wife around noon Tuesday and asked for an unplanned visit with
the girls. The mother thought he was supposed to be working a
construction job in Minot but agreed, telling him to be gone by
mid-afternoon because she didn't want to see him.

A Minneapolis Star Tribune report said Aaron Schaffhausen was fired
from his job at a St. Paul construction firm on July 5 after he failed
to show up for work. The firm had hired him to work on projects in
western North Dakota, the newspaper reported. The firm's sales manager
did not respond to an Associated Press email inquiry seeking details.

The girls' baby sitter told detectives the girls were so excited to
see him when he arrived they rushed to him and took him upstairs to show
him their things. The baby sitter followed them upstairs, hugged the
girls goodbye and left, the complaint said.

About two hours later, Aaron Schaffhausen called his ex-wife.

"You can come home now because I killed the kids," Jessica Schaffhausen said he told her.

She immediately called police, who found no one home when they
reached the house. They discovered the girls tucked into their beds,
blankets up their necks. All three had what appeared to be dried blood
on their faces and a large amount of blood covered the carpet in a
bedroom.

Officers detected an odor they thought at first was natural gas. They
later discovered a gasoline container had been tipped over in the
basement, spilling its contents.

About an hour after he contacted his ex-wife, Aaron Schaffhausen
drove into the River Falls Police Station parking lot and surrendered.
Officers noted his shorts were stained with what appeared to be blood.
Detectives tried to interview him, according to the complaint, but he
said nothing.

The complaint did not say where Jessica Schaffhausen was on Tuesday.

Dawn Simonson, executive director of Metropolitan Area Agency on
Aging, a nonprofit organization in St. Paul that helps the elderly live
independently, said during a brief telephone interview Thursday morning
that Jessica Schaffhausen has worked there since 2009. Schaffhausen, she
said, helps people return to their own homes after stints in nursing
homes.

Simonson declined to comment further, saying she wanted to respect
Schaffhausen's privacy. She didn't immediately return a telephone
message later Thursday asking if Schaffhausen had been at work Tuesday."We're just so sad and so devastated by this loss," Simonson said Thursday morning.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/aaron-schaffhausen-murder-daughters-amara-sophie-cecilia_n_1669792.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Witnesses Testify in River Falls Triple Homicide Preliminary Hearing

Posted at: 07/24/2012 11:04 AM
Updated at: 07/24/2012 11:07 AM
By: Leslie Rolander

A River Falls, Wis. father accused of killing his three young daughters is appearing in court Tuesday morning.

Aaron Schaffhausen is charged with three counts of murder in the death's of his daughters Amara, Sophie, and Cecilia. The girls were found dead nearly two weeks ago in their home.

In Tuesday's preliminary hearing the Schaffhausen's babysitter, Fallon Elizabeth Moore was called to the stand.

Moore testified she had been babysitting for the family for the past five years. She said she was watching the girls on July 10, 2012- the day the girls were found dead.

Moore testified when the girl's father, Aaron Schaffhausen, arrived at the home, the girls were very happy to see him.

She said he greeted her normally, and she spoke to him again when she left. She said Aaron Schaffhausen "seemed slightly gruff but not impolite," saying that was normal behavior for him.

She said she did not think anything bad was going to happen when she left.

An employee of the River Falls Police Department, Ailene Splittgerber, was called to the stand.

Splittgerber said she took a call from a hysterical woman on July 10. The woman wanted officers to go to her residence to check on her children.

During the call the woman identified herself as Jessica Schaffhausen.

Splittgerber said during the call the woman said, "her ex-husband had called her and said that she could come home now, that he had killed the children."

Not all calls that come into the department are recorded. Splittgerber said she decided to record this particular call because the woman seemed hysterical.

Splittgerber was on the phone with Jessica Schaffhausen for about 40 minutes.

John Wilson, an investigator with the River Falls Police Department, was also called to the stand. He was dispatched to the home on Morningside Avenue on July 10.

Wilson said he entered the home around 4 p.m. to check on the status of the children.

He immediately went upstairs and went into a bedroom. He saw a young child in a bed with the blankets up to her neckline. Wilson said the child appeared to be lifeless and had dried blood on her face.

The second bedroom Wilson entered had bunk beds. He saw a lifeless child on the top bunk. He said she appeared to have dried blood on her face. The blankets were also up to her neckline.

In the third bedroom Wilson entered, he found a third child in a bed. He said the child was also lifeless, appeared to have dried blood on her face, and the blankets were also up to her neckline. In this room there was what appeared to be a large pool of blood on the carpet, and blood splatter on the walls.

Aaron Schaffhausen is currently being held on $2 million bond.

http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S2701515.shtml?cat=10728

Schaffhausen attorney says client "delusional, depressed"; wants charges dropped

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 11:09 a.m. CDT

RIVER FALLS, WI (WTAQ) - The man accused of killing his three daughters in River Falls was delusional and depressed for a long time before the July 10th incident.

So says defense lawyer John Kucinski, who also notes that Aaron Schaffhausen has taken a lot of medications which had an effect on him.

Schaffhausen, who turns 35 Wednesday, is scheduled to enter pleas August 28th in St. Croix County Circuit Court on three homicide charges in the slashing deaths of Amara, Sophie, and Cecilia Schaffhausen.

Kucinski told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram he would file a request to drop the charges. He said the prosecution has been slow to give him the required reports and information about the state’s evidence in the case.

A judge said Tuesday there was enough evidence to put Schaffhausen on trial, but Kucinski said it was, “a poor prelim on the state’s part.” He said he could not go into details because of his impending motions.

Authorities have not given a motive for the slayings – which took place after Schaffhausen’s ex-wife gave him permission to see his 3 daughters alone. The couple was divorced in January, and Aaron moved to Minot North Dakota.

http://whbl.com/news/articles/2012/jul/25/schaffhausen-attorney-says-client-delusional-depressed-wants-charges-dropped/

I'm sorry for this man if he was depressed and delusional, but that in no way, whatsoever, excuses murdering someone. And three little girls, his daughters, at that! I get upset when lawyers start talking about incompetence or low intelligence or sad childhood to excuse someone's actions. There is a big difference between 'understanding' how something could happen and 'excusing' the action. Regardless of why, some people should not ever be roaming free in society - because it is not safe for others. And if he murders children when he is depressed or taking medication....who will insure that he is never depressed again? This seems more like an overt act of vindictiveness anyway, as many of these murders are. Like the doctor who killed his child, got off because he was depressed and wants to re-open his practice and have more children some day

River Falls killings: Dad charged with attempted arson

By Andy Rathbun
Posted: 08/21/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT
Updated: 08/21/2012 07:59:29 PM CDT

A new charge has been filed against Aaron Schaffhausen, the man suspected of killing his three girls last month in River Falls, Wis.

Prosecutors on Monday, Aug. 20, added attempted arson of a building to the three counts of first-degree intentional homicide already filed against Schaffhausen, 35. If convicted of the arson charge, Schaffhausen faces a sentence of up to 20 years. He faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted of any of the homicide charges.

His three daughters -- Amara, 11, Sophie, 9, and Cecilia, 5 -- were killed July 10 in the home they shared with their mother, Schaffhausen's ex-wife, who was away when Schaffhausen came to the home for an arranged visit that day, the criminal complaint states.

An investigator smelled the odor of gasoline in the basement of the home and found a gas container that had been tipped over, allowing gas to pour out of it, according to the complaint.

An arraignment hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 28.

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_21364731/river-falls-killings-dad-charged-attempted-arson

Oh brother. This monster needs to go to prison for life. He would be lucky to get the death penalty so give him life in prison so he can sit there and rot and hopefully have visions of those beautiful girls he murdered.

ND man accused of killing kids to enter plea

Published 2:20 a.m., Tuesday, August 28, 2012

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A North Dakota construction worker accused of killing his three young daughters is expected to enter a plea in a Wisconsin court.

Aaron Schaffhausen of Minot is scheduled to appear at an arraignment Tuesday in St. Croix County Circuit Court. Prosecutors expect him to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. His attorney has declined to comment on a possible plea.

Investigators believe Schaffhausen showed up at the house the girls shared with their mother in River Falls for a surprise visit last month while their mother was out. They believe he killed the girls and then called the mother and told her to come home because her children were dead.

Schaffhausen and the girls' mother divorced in January.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/ND-man-accused-of-killing-kids-to-enter-plea-3819915.php#ixzz24rO6Bi6R

Man Accused of Killing Kids Pleads Not Guilty

Posted at: 08/28/2012 5:31 PM

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin judge has entered not guilty pleas for a man accused of killing his three young daughters.

North Dakota construction worker Aaron Schaffhausen faces three homicide counts and an arson charge in the deaths of 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia Schaffhausen.

Online court records show Aaron Schaffhausen's attorney stood mute during an arraignment in St. Croix County Circuit Court Tuesday. Judge Howard C. Cameron entered not guilty pleas for Schaffhausen on all the charges.

Police discovered the girls' bodies in the River Falls home they shared with their mother last month. They also found an overturned gasoline can in the basement.

Schaffhausen and the girls' mother divorced in January.

http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S2744569.shtml?cat=10151

Prosecutor: Wis. Dad Killed Girls to Hurt Ex-Wife
By KYLE POTTER Associated Press
HUDSON, Wis. April 2, 2013 (AP)

The day his ex-wife could legally remarry, Aaron Schaffhausen hopped aboard a train and left North Dakota to go back to Wisconsin. The next day, he cut their three young daughters' throats, wrapped their necks with his spare T-shirts and tucked them into bed.

Prosecutors used those details in opening statements Tuesday to press their case that Schaffhausen was driven by revenge — not mental illness — and decided the best way to punish his ex-wife was to kill their girls. His defense attorney argued that Schaffhausen sank into depression after the divorce and couldn't control his emotions or actions.

Jurors will weigh those contrasting portraits to decide if Schaffhausen, 35, was sane when he killed his three daughters — 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia — on July 10 in River Falls.

As testimony began, jurors heard a recording of a 40-minute 911 call from Schaffhausen's ex-wife, Jessica Schaffhausen, in which she begged police to send officers to check on her daughters.

"My ex-husband just called and said he killed my kids," she told the dispatcher.

In his opening statement, Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Gary Freyberg said Aaron Schaffhausen was angry because he thought his ex-wife had begun seeing another man.
"Help was available if he wanted it. He didn't want help; he wanted revenge," Freyberg said. "He was so angry and so bitter that he decided to punish her in a way that he calculated would cause her the most harm possible."

Besides the timing of the killings — right after a six-month waiting period for remarriage written into the couple's divorce decree — Freyberg cited as evidence of Schaffhausen's planning that he brought the tool he used to cut his daughters' throats with him from North Dakota and tried to destroy evidence afterward.

Defense attorney John Kucinski described Schaffhausen as a man in decline after the divorce. He described him as an obsessive person: first with work, then with school after he quit his job. After dropping out of school and moving out of the house, his obsession turned to his ex-wife, Jessica, Kucinski said.

Kucinski said Schaffhausen was prescribed several different antidepressants following the divorce. Schaffhausen sometimes mixed alcohol with his medication and his behavior grew increasingly erratic, the defense attorney said. He would call his ex-wife up to 30 times a day, and once threatened to tie her up and force her to choose which of their daughters to kill, Kucinski said.

He said Schaffhausen told a cousin in a phone call that he was "thinking of slitting the girls' throats."

The cousin, Jessica Schaffhausen and others urged Aaron Schaffhausen's family to make him get mental health treatment or even commit him to a mental institution, the defense attorney said.

Of the killing themselves, Kucinski said: "When he's with Cecilia, something happens. The next thing he recalls, there's a lot of blood. The girls' throats are cut."

According to court papers, Schaffhausen then tried to set the house on fire before calling his ex-wife.

She then called 911. Through sobs and shallow breathing, she told the dispatcher her ex-husband had history of mental illness and had stopped taking his antidepressants in March or April. But she also said he had stopped drinking and had told her he was feeling a lot better.
Schaffhausen's concession that he killed the girls transformed his trial into one that likely will determine whether he spends the rest of his life in prison or is committed to a psychiatric institution from which he might someday be released.

Three psychiatrists who evaluated Schaffhausen will testify. One said he was not guilty by reason of insanity. The other two said Schaffhausen likely 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 finally broke up after she discovered he had lied about going back to school.

Jessica and the girls stayed in the house in River Falls, a community of about 15,000 people about 30 miles east of the Twin Cities. Aaron Schaffhausen took a construction job in Minot, N.D.
According to the complaint, Aaron Schaffhausen texted his ex-wife on July 10 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.

Wisconsin requires at least 10 of the 12 jurors to find the evidence shows a defendant suffered from a "mental disease or defect" so great at the time that he or she "lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his or her conduct or conform his or her conduct to the requirements of law."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawyer-schaffhausen-erratic-killing-girls-18862784





This guy should have the death penalty. Such gorgeous little angels. A father should love, cherish, protect, educate not kill their children. To have so much hate to kill them proves he was sane and should be punished. It's sad when a stranger like me has more love for the little girls than their own father. I would cherish having three little girls. William

Man pleads guilty but insane in daughters' deaths
updated 3/28/2013 6:37:16 PM ET
HUDSON, Wis. — A father changed his pleas Thursday to guilty but insane in the killings of his three young daughters last summer in Wisconsin, which means the defense at his trial will have to prove he had a mental disease or defect so severe that he wasn't responsible for his actions.

Aaron Schaffhausen, 35, had pleaded not guilty, but switched his plea after more than a day of delays and legal wrangling about what kind of evidence will be allowed at his trial, which starts next week.

Schaffhausen spoke in a flat tone that lacked emotion as he answered the judge's questions about his new pleas.

"Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?" Judge Howard Cameron asked at one point.

"Yes," Schaffhausen responded.

With the plea change, prosecutors won't have to prove Schaffhausen killed his daughters and or that he tried to set fire to their River Falls home last July.

However, the defense will have to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he had a mental disease or defect, and that he lacked substantial capacity to appreciate that what he did was wrong or couldn't control his impulses.
Jury selection is to begin Monday in St. Croix County Circuit Court.

Schaffhausen, who moved from River Falls and took a construction job in Minot, N.D., after his marriage broke up, is charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of attempted arson. Police found his daughters, 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia, dead in their beds. Their throats had been slit, and gasoline had been poured in the basement.

Prosecutors allege Schaffhausen did it to get back at his ex-wife, Jessica, because he was bitter over their divorce and angry because he thought she had begun seeing another man.

According to the criminal complaint, Schaffhausen texted his ex-wife on July 10 to ask for an unscheduled visit with the girls, and she consented. Schaffhausen arrived and sent a baby sitter away.

About two hours later, he called his ex-wife and, according to the complaint, told her: "You can come home now because I killed the kids."

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51366776/ns/us_news/t/man-pleads-guilty-insane-daughters-deaths/?lite&lite=obnetwork

I sure hope they can't proof he was mentally disturbed. His actions and words are of hate, not mental defect. Pure rage and hate. He's just doing that to get off. William

He was ssane enough to plan and execute the murders of his three little girls.

He was sane enough to want revenge on his ex wife.

That poor woman will wonder for the rest of her life how she could have ever married and lived with such a monster. She paid a very high price.

Defense: Wisconsin Dad Who Killed Girls Was Insane
By AMY FORLITI Associated Press HUDSON, Wis. April 16, 2013
The defense attorney for a Wisconsin man who has admitted he killed his three young daughters says his client has a mental disease and should be sent to a psychiatric institution, not a prison.

Jurors are weighing whether Aaron Schaffhausen was legally sane when he killed 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia in their River Falls home last July.

During closing arguments Tuesday, defense attorney John Kucinski said the slayings were "psychogenetic killings" that arose from Schaffhausen's mental disease, triggered by the end of his marriage and loss of his children through divorce. He says Schaffhausen suffers from a rare disorder, rooted in a deep dependency on his wife.

Prosecutors have said Schaffhausen cut his girls' throats in a jealous rage. The government is now presenting its closing arguments.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/defense-wisconsin-dad-killed-girls-insane-18969879

Hopefully the jurors will see through the crap and see that he was not insane. William

Execute him. If he's insane that will cure it.

Father who murdered his three daughters and told his ex 'you can come home now, I killed the kids' sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole
 
The Wisconsin father who killed his three young girls to get revenge on his ex-wife has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
A jury ruled that Aaron Schaffhausen- who called his wife saying ‘you can come home now, I killed the kids’- was sane at the time of the July 2012 triple murder but he was only today that he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Schaffhausen, 35, had admitted he killed 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia at their River Falls home to get back at his ex-wife, but argued he had a mental defect that kept him from knowing it was wrong.
 

Horror: Amara Schaffhausen (center), 11, Sophie Schaffhausen (left), 8, and Cecilia Schaffhausen (right), 5, were found dead in their home and their father is charged with killing them during an unexpected visit
 
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, who said: 'I don't see mental illness as a mitigating factor.'
'This is a vicious, aggravated crime,' Cameron said before handing down the sentence.
The judge chose consecutive life sentences to send a message that 'each child is so important.'
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
 

Tragic lives taken too soon: Amara, 11, five-year-old Cecilia and eight-year-old Sophie (left to right) were all supposedly happy to see their father when he showed up for the unexpected visit
 
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.
As he did throughout his trial, Aaron Schaffhausen sat impassively as family members and attorneys read their statements.
Jessica Schaffhausen's sister, Mary Elizabeth Stotz, described Aaron Schaffhausen as 'the darkness, the boogeyman' that every child fears.
'He took their unconditional love for him, and used that love to lure them to get close enough (to) kill them,' Stotz said.
'Their last memory was what an evil killer their dad was.'
Eryn Schlotte, the girls' cousin, said Schaffhausen took away from her 'the future of seeing them smile, and what I had to look forward to when school got out.
 
'I thought the world was a better place than this. Not a place where someone got killed before they were even in kindergarten or middle school.'
With family members crying and sharing tissues, lead prosecutor Gary Freyberg read his statement, saying Schaffhausen used the girls 'as pawns ... to make Jessica suffer.'
'How wrong is it to use his intellect, his size and his brute strength not to protect his children from danger, but to become the most dangerous person in the world to them?' he asked.
Freyberg said consecutive life sentences with no possibility of release was the only way for Jessica Schaffhausen to be free of fear that her ex-husband would someday come for her.
 

Schaffhausen argued that his client committed the crimes to help break his dependency on his ex-wife Jessica, seen here in an old photo with their youngest daughter Cecilia as a baby
 

Happier days: The prosecution argued that Aaron used his children (Amara at left and Sophie at right) as pawns
 
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, North Dakota — 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.
Schaffhausen didn't testify at his trial. His defense attorney argued at trial that Schaffhausen has a rare mental disorder rooted in deep dependency on his ex-wife, and believed the only way he could 'solve' his problem was to commit suicide or homicide.
The jury rejected his insanity defense.
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2364720/Aaron-Schaffhausen-Father-murdered-daughters-told-ex-come-home-I-killed-kids-sentenced-life-prison-chance-parole.html
 
At least some justice.  He should have paid with his life.  William

Thank heavens the judge order no early release.  He could have gotten out in 20 years.  He gets to live.  His precious children didn't.  That seems messed up.

The poor mother must live the rest of her life knowing what happened to her children.  Knowing she once lived with and bedded with this POS monster. 

Does Wisconsin not have the DP?  This evil creature doesn't deserve to live.

Mother whose three young daughters were murdered by ex-husband out of revenge is remarried and PREGNANT 18 months after tragedy

30 January 2014 



The Wisconsin woman who lost all of her three young daughters when her ex-husband murdered them out of revenge has remarried, and is expecting a new child.

Jennifer Peterson's ex-husband Aaron Schaffhausen had come over to her house for an unsupervised visit In July 2012 with the daughters Amara, 11, Sophie, 8, and Cecilia, 5.

He called two hours later saying: 'you can come home now, I killed the kids'. Schaffhausen was sentenced to three consecutive  life sentences a year later.


Getting better: Jessica Peterson (right), the mother of three girls murdered by their own father a year and a half ago, is now remarried and expecting a new baby. Pictured above with her husband Matthew




Too young: Mrs Peterson's daughters Amara (11), Sophie ( and Cecilia (5) were murdered by their own father out of revenge




Behind bars: Mrs Peterson's ex-husband Aaron Schaffhausen was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences last July

Eighteen months after the brutal triple-murder Peterson is still pained by her daughters' loss, but is getting by with the support of her new husband Matthew and the business of getting ready for a new baby. Mrs Peterson is currently seven months pregnant. 

'The key to much of my life is this balancing dual emotions, having to always be a little sad and a little happy at the same time,' Mrs Peterson told KTSP. 'It definitely helps in my process of trying to keep going, to bring some more love back into this world.'
Mrs Peterson has a positive outlook considering all of the dark she's seen since July 10, 2012, when her ex texted her for permission to have an unscheduled visit with their daughters.

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.



Tragic lives taken too soon: Cecilia, Amara and Sophie were all supposedly happy to see their father when he showed up for the unexpected visit

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.
During his trial last year, Schaffhausen tried to excuse his actions with an insanity plea.
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, North Dakota — 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.'



Time gone by: Mrs Peterson pictured with her daughters in happier days

He also called his ex-wife repeatedly, sometimes up to 30 times a day, and threatened to kill the man she was dating.
Schaffhausen didn't testify at his trial. His defense attorney argued at trial that Schaffhausen has a rare mental disorder rooted in deep dependency on his ex-wife, and believed the only way he could 'solve' his problem was to commit suicide or homicide.
The jury rejected his insanity defense.



Not insane: The jury rejected Schaffhausen's insanity plea

'This is a vicious, aggravated crime,' St Croix County Circuit Judge Howard Cameron said before handing down the sentence last July.
The judge chose consecutive life sentences to send a message that 'each child is so important.'
Now that her ex-husband is safely behind bars, Mrs Peterson is finding ways to keep her daughter's memories alive while also moving on.

She is currently working to build Tri-Angels Playground, a public space to honor her daughters.



Remembered: Mrs Peterson is now working on building a park to memorialize her daughters

'Something people count interact with and make their own memories, and in that way, keep my girls' memories alive,' she said.

The project costs $550,00 to build and she's only raised $247,000 so she's asking for more donations. Bremer Bank has agreed to match donation up to $50,000 and she hopes to open the park in the spring or summer of next year.

'I miss the girls still a lot,' Peterson said. 'That's a pain I think I'll always carry. But I try to do it in a way that would make them proud of me, in much the way I would want them to carry on if they'd lost me.'


Happy: Mrs Peterson is now seven months pregnant with her husband Matthew

This is still too evil to comprehend.