Aaron and Jessica Schaffhausen married in 2000 and both filed for divorce in 2011; the divorce was finalized the subsequent year, in January. Jessica Schaffhausen and their daughters, Amara, Sophie, and Cecilia, lived in a house in River Falls which they rented from Aaron Schaffhausen while he lived in Minot, North Dakota. The ex-wife had primary physical custody and determined the girls' education and health care; otherwise the two parties had joint custody. Amara and Sophie attended Greenwood Elementary School.
Crime
On July 10, 2012 Schaffhausen sent a text message to his wife requesting a visit to his daughters. The daughters were in the house while the ex-wife was not present. The babysitter left the house after the father arrived. After he arrived, he slit the throats of the three girls. He also strangled Cecilia. Amara, Sophie, and Cecilia were 11, 8, and 5. He later called Jessica Schaffhausen to tell her that he had killed them. A can of gasoline was spilled onto the ground. He turned himself in after arriving at a police station in River Falls. He was charged with three murders and attempted arson. Schaffhausen's bond was set to $2 million.
Trial and punishment
On March 29, 2013 Schaffhausen entered a "guilty but insane" plea. Prosecutors accused Schaffhausen of killing the girls to get revenge against his ex-wife. Schaffhausen stated that this was his motive, but that he did not know right from wrong due to a mental issue. Schaffhausen also pleaded guilty to attempted arson. According to prosecutors, Schaffhausen disliked the fact that his ex-wife was romantically involved with someone else and that he held resentment over the prior divorce. In April 2013 a jury ruled that Schaffhausen was sane when he committed the murders. Jurors took three and a half hours to conclude that Schaffhausen knew right from wrong despite his mental issues. Howard Cameron, the St. Croix County judge, gave him three life sentences without parole, one for each victim. 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 the ex-wife. In addition he was asked to pay witness costs of $10,000. In 2015 one of Schaffhausen's appeals was denied. Schaffhausen was housed in the St. Croix County Jail during his trial. He entered the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in July 2013, and is incarcerated at Waupun Correctional Institution.
Aftermath
The funeral for the girls was held at the Kilkarney Hills Golf Club in River Falls on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. Affinity Plus Credit Union, a bank, acquired the house where the murders took place and Details Construction dismantled the house; its materials were donated to St. Croix Habitat for Humanity. The bank planned to use the money generated from the sale of the land to fund a park built in honor of the girls. 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. The ex-wife remarried and had children with her new husband.
