Aaron Schaffhausen

Aaron and Jessica Schaffhausen married in 2000 and both filed for divorce in 2011; the divorce was finalized in January of the next year.[1] Jessica Schaffhausen, who had primary physical custody, lived with their daughters, Amara, Sophie, and Cecilia in a house in River Falls that they rented from Aaron Schaffhausen, while he lived in Minot, North Dakota.[3] The two parties had joint custody.[1] Amara and Sophie attended Greenwood Elementary School.[4]

On July 10, 2012, Schaffhausen sent a text message to his ex-wife requesting a visit to their daughters. His ex-wife was not present at the house, and the babysitter left after Schaffhausen arrived. He slit the throats of the three girls.[2] He also strangled Cecilia.[4] Amara, Sophie, and Cecilia were 11, 8, and 5.[5] Schaffhausen later called his ex-wife to tell her that he had killed them.[2] A can of gasoline was spilled onto the ground.[6]

Schaffhausen turned himself in at a police station in River Falls.[3] He was charged with three murders and attempted arson.[6] His bond was set to $2 million.[7]

On March 29, 2013 Schaffhausen entered a "guilty but insane" plea. Prosecutors accused him of killing the girls to get revenge against his ex-wife.[5] Schaffhausen stated that this was indeed his motive, but that he did not know right from wrong due to a mental issue.[2] He also pleaded guilty to attempted arson.[8] According to prosecutors, Schaffhausen disliked that his ex-wife was romantically involved with someone else, and he had resentment over the divorce.[5]

In April 2013 a jury ruled that Schaffhausen was sane when he committed the murders.[9] Jurors took three and a half hours to conclude that Schaffhausen knew right from wrong despite his mental issues.[10] Howard Cameron, the St. Croix County judge, gave him three life sentences without parole, one for each victim.[11] In 2014 Cameron also made Schaffhausen pay over $14,000 in restitution to Jessica Schaffhausen; about one-fourth of the money given by his family and any money he earns while in prison will be garnished and given to his ex-wife.[12] In addition he was asked to pay witness costs of $10,000.[13] In 2015 one of Schaffhausen's appeals was denied.[14]

Schaffhausen was housed in the St. Croix County Jail during his trial.[15] He entered the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in July 2013,[16] and is incarcerated at Waupun Correctional Institution.

The funeral for the girls was held at the Kilkarney Hills Golf Club in River Falls on Tuesday, July 17, 2012.[17][18]

Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union acquired the house where the murders took place. Details Construction dismantled the house; its materials were donated to St. Croix Habitat for Humanity.[19] The credit union used the money generated from the sale of the land to fund a park built in honor of the girls.[20] The Tri-Angels Playground at Hoffman Park, accessible to handicapped children and built with designs referring to each of the three girls, opened in 2015.[21]

Jessica Schaffhausen remarried and had children with her new husband.[22]

• List of homicides in Wisconsin

Cases of filicide attributed to revenge against an ex-spouse:

• John Battaglia
• Elaine Campione
• Amy Hebert
• Murder of the Kumari-Baker sisters
• Charles Mihayo

• Articles about Aaron Schaffhausen from WCCO CBS 6
• Articles about Aaron Schaffhausen from Fox 6
• Hoffman Park (site of Tri-Angels Playground) - City of River Falls