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Christian Longo: Who was he?

Christian Longo was a young, good-looking, smooth-talking man at the time he

murdered his family. He was born in Burlington, Iowa, on January 23, 1974. As

a child, his family moved around the Midwest as his parents searched for various

employment opportunities. When his parents finally divorced, he moved with his

brother and mother to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his mother remarried. His

new stepfather was a Jehovah’s Witness and the Longo family embraced it as

well. It was through his religion that he met Mary Jane Baker who was seven

years his senior.

Baker was considered a sweet, yet somewhat sheltered, young woman. She still

lived with her parents when she met Longo. She was also very religious. There

were some problems surrounding the relationship from the beginning, however.

When Longo was discovered stealing from his employer the church elders

refused to let him and Baker marry in the church. His parents also thought he

was too young to marry. Still, Longo and Baker married on March 13, 1993 in a

school auditorium.

Zachery Michael Longo was born in February 1997. Sadie Ann followed 14

months later. A year and half after that Madison Jeanne was born. Mary Jane

stayed home to be a full-time mother and housewife. Longo, who desired a good

home life with a nice house and good job, reportedly began feeling pressured.

The children needed to have good clothes, Mary Jane needed a new minivan

every two years, they needed to go on nice vacations, etc. There was the anxiety

felt by many American middle-class families of trying to “keep up with the

Joneses.” In his trial, it later came out that Longo was involved in petty crimes

of scamming, forging checks, and stealing in an effort to maintain his family’s

lifestyle. He even stole a minivan from a car lot by using a fake ID to take it for

a test drive.

In 2000, Longo quit his job and started his own business: Final Touch

Construction Cleaning. Although business was considerably good, his overhead

was high and he wound up bouncing payroll checks and even forging checks

using his customer's bank account. He also reportedly had an affair with a fellow

Jehovah’s Witness.

Under an assumed name, he opened a line of credit and ran up nearly $100,000

in debt. His financial troubles grew as he defaulted on loans and wrote more bad

checks. He stole industrial-sized equipment and then sold it for the money. He

was eventually “disfellowshipped”, a type of shunning, from the Kingdom Hall

of Jehovah's Witnesses. Even his family stopped speaking to him.

In May 2001 the family sold their house, Christian jumped probation, and they

left town. They were discovered in Toledo, Ohio, selling stolen equipment and

living in a warehouse. By the time the police caught up with them, they’d left

again. This time, they went to Oregon.

Although they had money to rent a house for a short period of time, the money

soon ran out and they ended up staying in a cheap hotel. Christian was unhappy

about the way his family was living; he wanted better. He was working at

Starbucks, but the money would run out within days of receiving his paycheck.

He wound up talking the manager of an upscale condo place into renting to them

by lying to him about where he was working and how much money they had.

After a couple of months, unable to pay rent, he realized he was in a bad

situation.

On December 14th, without any money to feed his family or even provide

shelter for them, he realized they deserved better. How he went about

“providing” for them and taking care of them, however, is chilling.

On December 18, a collection of baby clothes, family pictures, and women's

clothing were found in the dumpster at the hotel where the family had stayed in

the past. Mary Jane Longo's Michigan identification was there as well. When

Longo’s manager at Starbucks informed him of this, Longo shrugged it off,

claiming they must have forgotten a few items. Yet he didn’t make a move to

pick them up. On December 19 Longo informed some of his coworkers that his

wife had been carrying on an affair for three years; she’d left and taken the kids

and returned to Michigan. It was later that day that Zachery’s body was found.

The Aftermath

Forensic psychologist and author of The Psychopathic Mind and Violent

Attachments, J. Reid Meloy thinks family murders happen as the result of a

build-up of anger and frustration. As a result, the father's already-fragile ego is

threatened and often damaged. Unable to face his apparent failure or

embarrassment, these feelings build inside of him until they manifest in

oftentimes horrible violence. Sometimes, the father also commits suicide in the

process. In Longo’s case, however, he fled town.

Longo first boarded a plane to Cancún. Once there, he often went by his own

name and didn’t do anything to change the way he looked. After some guests at

the hostel he was staying in reported having money stolen, he left town and

traveled to Tulum.

For reasons probably known only to him, he eventually started pretending to be

The New York Times journalist Michael Finkel. Later, he stated that he choose

this persona because he “didn’t want to talk about [himself].” Longo told others

he was there on business, researching the Mayan ruins for an article. By all

accounts he was mostly charming and smooth-talking. He even met a German

photographer and started a relationship with her.

Longo was included in the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list on January 11th. When

the show America’s Most Wanted aired subsequent to that, John Walsh described

Longo as "very charming…very, very smart,” and added that he was “really,

really good at disappearing."

A woman who’d run into Longo in Cancún alerted the FBI, who traveled down

to Mexico and interviewed guests at the hostel in which he’d been staying.

Posters were printed and distributed. Thanks to some tips, the FBI closed in on

him in Tulum where he’d been dancing, making friends, and hanging out with

his new girlfriend.

After his arrest, Longo was indicted on seven counts of aggravated murder on

his 28

th birthday. Although he pleaded guilty to the deaths of his wife and

Madison, he pled not guilty to the deaths of the others. His defense for killing

Madison was that he didn’t want her to be “traumatized” after seeing her siblings

and mother killed.

During his testimony, Longo recounted his last day with his family. He stated

that Mary Jane picked him up from work in her bathrobe. By the time they

reached their home, she was crying and muttering to herself and refused to go in.

He apparently became alarmed and went inside where he found Madison

motionless and the other two children missing. He stated that his wife

proclaimed: “You did this to us. You did this. It's your fault.” After she told him

where the other two children were, he strangled her in a fit of anger.

He then tried to revive Madison. Although she was still breathing, he didn’t

think she would live long and, besides, what kind of life would she have? He

strangled her as well and then placed both bodies in suitcases and took them to

the water.

One main problem with his testimony is the fact that the killings appeared to

have been premeditated. In fact, six weeks before their deaths, he used his

frequent-flier miles to fly from Portland to South Dakota in order stamp

postcards from Mary Jane to her family with a different postmark (Duin, 2011).

On April 7, 2003, it took only a little over four hours for an eight-woman, fourman jury to find Longo guilty of murdering Zachery and Sadie. On April 16, the

same jury sentenced him to death by lethal injection. Longo addressed the

courtroom by claiming, "They deserved the best, and that's something I didn't

provide. I was the one, in fact, they needed protection from."

Later, from Death Row, Longo spoke of his family and his testimony at the trial.

He proclaimed, "I got up on the stand and essentially blamed my wife for

everything. I was still stuck in a phase where I couldn't fathom the thought of me

being capable of doing what I was convicted of” (Canzano, 2012).

In 2011, Mary Jane’s sister said, "I've never had an opinion about the death

penalty. I have an opinion now. We will never rest until Chris is gone. We're not

allowed to” (Duin, 2011).

Christopher Vaughn

In June 2007 Christopher Vaughn, from Illinois, was charged with murdering his

wife and three children. Although he claimed it was a murder-suicide and that he

killed his wife only after she’d killed their children, the jury didn’t buy it. It only

took them about an hour to deliberate and find him guilty of four counts of

murder.

The Murders

The Vaughn family consisted of Christopher, his 34-year-old wife Kimberly, and

their three children: 12-year-old Abigayle, 11-year-old Cassandra, and 8-yearold Blake. They were on their way to a water park when all three children and

Kimberly wound up shot and killed in the family SUV.

A supposed “surprise” trip from Vaughn, he pulled off the interstate on their way

to the water park onto a secluded road. He first placed his handgun under his

wife’s chin and shot her. He then turned to his sleeping children and killed them.

However, Blake must have woken up and tried to defend himself from the

bullets because his arms were raised in a protective position (Schmadeke, 2012).

Vaughn also had small wounds on him. Sgt. Steve Weiss discovered the family

members inside the SUV. He said that when he saw the children it “looked like

they all should be sleeping.” He went on to say that the case would continue to

haunt him (Schmadeke, 2012).

According to the prosecutors, Vaughn dreamed of living in the Canadian

wilderness. In fact, leading up to the deaths of his family he was “stockpiling”

camping gear (Schmadeke, 2012). Unfortunately, he didn’t want to embark on

this new adventure with his family. Rather than separating from them, he opted

to kill them instead.

Using the name “dewoodsman”, Vaughn posted in forums about moving away

and living in the Canadian wilderness. He posted that he’d rather “follow a set of

tracks through a river in the rain than have to spend time on a paved road or

under a roof.” He went on to state he was “working on wrapping up a few last

things” and then he was “headed out for a long walk” (Huffington Post, 2011).

A manager at a local strip club, Score’s Gentleman’s Club, stated that Vaughn

visited the establishment twice in June. During that time, he spent almost $5,000

(CBS Chicago). A former exotic dancer claimed that he spent an hour and a half

with her in a private room but, instead of asking her to dance, just talked. At that

time, he proclaimed to be single without any children. She described him as

“very timid, very shy” (CBS Chicago). Maya Drake, another exotic dancer,

claimed that while she’d met Vaughn several times he’d talked about his wife,

but never his children. She said he told her he was unhappy with his marriage

and that his wife had spent $5,000 on curtains (Schlesinger, 2012). During his

visits with her, they discussed poetry and the outdoors. At the trial Drake

testified that, when speaking of his wife, Vaughn claimed she was going to “get

what she deserved” and that she “wasn’t going to see it coming” (Schlesinger,

2012).

The owner of a local gun shop and shooting range testified Vaughn had used the

range the night before his family died. At that time, he was using what would

prove to be the murder weapon (CBS Chicago).

Kimberly’s father stated that although Vaughn had come across as

“unemotional”, he never saw any signs that he might be a violent man

(Schmadeke, 2012). He later said he didn’t think Vaughn could feel what they

felt when they held their grandchildren.

The Aftermath

The trial lasted for 5½ weeks. During the proceedings there were various

witnesses called forward, including the two former strippers. The majority of the

trial relied on blood evidence gathered from the crime scene. In the course of the

trial, jurors were able to watch a video of the investigators confronting Vaughn

about the deaths. He exhibited a “lack of emotion and vague answers about the

violent deaths of his wife and children” (Williams, 2012).

According to the Chicago SunTimes, a magazine story was discovered in

Vaughn’s home about how to stage a crime to make a murder look like a suicide.

Another piece of evidence brought up in the trial was his wife’s $1 million life

insurance policy.

Vaughn’s defense rested largely on the idea that it was his wife who killed the

children, and not him. She then supposedly turned the gun on herself. However,

prosecutors were able to determine that she’d been the first to die. During

Kimberly’s sister’s testimony, Vaughn wiped at his eyes. This would be the only

sign of emotion he gave throughout the trial. (Schmadeke, 2012) Kimberly’s

mother stated Vaughn was a “selfish coward” who, instead of walking away

from his family, chose to “destroy the very best thing that he had” (Schmadeke,

2012).

After the trial ended, both Kimberly’s twin sister, Stephanie, and her mother

read statements before the sentencing took place. When asked if he had any

statements to make, Vaughn replied “No thank you” in a voice that was

described as “quiet” (Schmadeke, 2012).

The State’s attorney, James Glasgow, claimed there wasn’t a “punishment that

fits this crime” and that you could “lock him up for 500 lifetimes and it would

not compensate the victims in this case or the family members” (Schmadeke,

2012). The death penalty in Illinois had been abolished before the trial finished.

Kimberly’s father stated that perhaps Vaughn’s confinement to a prison cell for

life was worse and that he was, in some way, “in a death penalty right now,”

adding that it was “just a question of degree” (Babwin, 2012).

Aaron Schaffhausen

Aaron Schaffhausen, a 34-year-old North Dakota man, was convicted of killing

his three daughters on July 15

th

, 2013 after getting angry at their mother for

abandoning him.

The Murders

Schaffhausen and his wife, Jessica, had divorced earlier that year. The children

and their mother lived in River Falls, North Dakota, in a house she rented from

her ex-husband. Aaron lived in Minot. Schaffhausen was convicted of killing his

three young daughters: 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie, and 5-year-old

Cecilia. The cause of death for all three girls was impact by sharp force,

although the autopsy showed that Cecilia was also strangled.

During the trial, Schaffhausen’s mental health came into question many times.

He had started taking Celexa, an antidepressant, for depression thirteen months

before the murders (Olson, 2013). According to Jessica, he didn’t interact with

the rest of his family and played video games “for hours and hours.” However,

once he started taking the Celexa he participated in more activities with them

and started doing more around the house” (Olson, 2013). The medication

appeared to help unless he consumed alcohol with it. At such times, it was

difficult to tell whether or not he was inebriated although he would, according to

Jessica, say “really off-the-wall things.” He stopped taking it before the murders

and hadn’t been on it for a while.

Jessica informed jurors that Schaffhausen’s video game addiction was a

problem, but one she’d learned to live with. Early in the marriage she’d learned

to “accept [she] was the one who was going to do the majority of work around

the house” (Olson, 2013). She admitted, however, that she hadn’t witnessed him

being abusive towards the girls; in fact, if anything he’d been more “neglectful”

or “shut off.” Rather than try to work on their marriage, he ignored her attempts

to make things better and played games such as World of Warcraft. Jessica

testified that she’d go to work, take the kids to daycare, and come home to find

he hadn’t done anything she’d asked him to do while she was gone.

After the divorce, Schaffhausen only showed interest in seeing her, not their

children. If one of them answered the phone when he called, he’d hang up.

Jessica began feeling uncomfortable around him and didn’t want to see him.

After he moved to North Dakota, he would sometimes call and “harass” her as

many as thirty times in one day (Olson, 2013). In March of 2012, he even

threatened to come to her house, tie her up, and kill one of the girls in front of

her. He claimed he wanted her to “feel the pain he felt” (Olson, 2013). She

alerted the police and the River Falls Police Department then called and talked to

Schaffhausen. This recorded conversation was played in court. Schaffhausen

told the officer at the time that, “If you knew my background, I think you would

understand” (Olson, 2013). The officer eventually decided he didn’t pose a real

threat to his family.

Later, Schaffhausen called and asked Jessica if he could come visit the girls

while they were sleeping. Jessica declined, saying that she didn’t think the girls

would enjoy that since they wouldn’t be awake and that she thought it was

“creepy”.

According to investigators, on the day of the murder Schaffhausen sent his wife

a text and asked if he could have an unplanned visit with his girls. Although

Jessica thought he was supposed to be working on a construction job, she

agreed. As it turns out, he’d recently been fired from his job due to failure to

show up for work.