When he arrived at the house, he was met by the girls’ babysitter. She claimed
his daughters were so excited to see him that they immediately rushed to him
and took him upstairs. The babysitter followed, hugged them goodbye, then left.
According to Jessica, Schaffhausen called her two hours later and said, “You can
come home now because I’ve killed the kids.” At first, she thought he was
joking. She screamed at him for his poor taste, but then she called the police
immediately. When they arrived at the house, Schaffhausen was gone. They
found all three girls tucked in their beds, seemingly asleep. There was blood on
their necks and a big blood stain on a bedroom carpet (Richmond, 2012). The
police also detected an odor which turned out to be a container of gasoline that
had been knocked over in the basement.
The court-appointed psychiatrist, Ralph Baker, interviewed Schaffhausen and
testified that he told him he was helping Cecilia find her shoes when he started
strangling her. When she began crying and he realized she was still alive, he
went to the kitchen, retrieved a knife, and killed all three girls (Rathbun, 2013).
He’d planned on burning down the house but apparently decided not to. Hence,
the overturned gasoline container.
Shorts stained with blood, Schaffhausen drove to the River Falls Police Station
around an hour after he called his wife. There, he turned himself in. He was
silent when the detectives attempted to interview him.
The Aftermath
After the murders, Jessica told investigators that her ex-husband was "obsessed"
with her and that he was used to her “taking care of everything” (Olson, 2013).
In his statement, lead prosecutor Gary Freyberg said Schaffhausen used the girls
“as pawns ... to make Jessica suffer” (Daily Mail, 2013). He also argued that
consecutive life sentences would be the only way to keep Jessica safe, certain
that Schaffhausen would someday “come for her” if released.
During the trial, when defense attorney John Kucinski asked her if she had
described her ex-husband to the police as “completely irrational and crazy,” she
answered, "Yes. He just murdered my children” (Olson, 2013).
Despite his history of depression, the jury ruled that Schaffhausen was legally
sane at the time of the killings. Although he’d admitted to murdering his
daughters to get back at his ex-wife, the defense had argued he had a mental
defect that hindered him from knowing his actions were “wrong” (Daily Mail,
2013).
In his closing statement to the jury, lead prosecutor Gary Freyberg said
Schaffhausen used the girls “as pawns ... to make Jessica suffer” (Daily Mail,
2013). He also argued that consecutive life sentences would be the only way to
keep Jessica safe, certain Aaron would someday “come for her” if released.
While life sentences were mandatory in each of the deaths, the possibility of
supervised release after at least 20 years in prison was still possible.
However, at sentencing St. Croix County Circuit Judge Howard Cameron
rejected this and stated he didn’t see “mental illness as a mitigating factor”
(Daily Mail, 2013). Before handing down the sentence, he went on to claim that
the crime was “vicious” and “aggravated.” Schaffhausen was sentenced to three
consecutive life sentences because “each child [was] so important.”
Schaffhausen's mother and father maintained that while what he did was wrong,
he was also mentally ill. His aunt, Patty Fix, agreed that he should be sent to
prison “for life” but that he wasn’t a “coward” and that he suffered from mental
illness (Rathbun, 2013). She stated that he had told several people that he was
feeling homicidal but that nobody tried to help him or say, ”You need to be in a
flippin' hospital – you're insane’” (Rathbun, 2013). She thought he needed help
for his illness but hadn’t received it in time.
However, not everyone agreed with this assessment. During the trial, Jessica’s
sister described Schaffhausen as “the darkness, the boogeyman that every child
fears” (Daily Mail, 2013). She declared their girls’ last memory to be “what an
evil killer their dad was.” She stated that Schaffhausen didn’t deserve the girls.
When Schaffhausen refused to speak in court, or address what he did, she added
that he was “too much of a coward to even own what he did ... as that would
mean he would have to accept some form of accountability for his actions” and
that he should “rot in hell” (Rathbun, 2013).
Marcus Wesson
Marcus Wesson has one of the most unusual cases of murder to date. It involves
everything from killings to antique coffins to vampires – things the one does not
ordinarily come across in today’s news. Wesson was convicted on nine counts of
murder and sentenced to death. He’s been described as “Fresno's worst mass
murderer” (Marshall, 2004).
A Way of Life
Following a standoff with police at his home on March 12, 2004, the bodies of
nine of Marcus Wesson’s children (seven of whom he’d fathered with his own
daughters and nieces) were discovered in a room filled with antique coffins.
During his trial, it was revealed that Wesson and his family participated in a
religion that was nothing short of cult-like and centered on his enthrallment with
both Jesus Christ and vampires.
Marcus Delon Wesson was born in Kansas on August 22, 1946. He was brought
up in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church by parents he described as abusive and
religious. As an adult, he enlisted in the military.
Upon returning home, he became involved with a married woman with children,
Rosemary Solorio. Solorio eventually left her husband and Wesson moved in.
Although Solorio gave birth to his son in 1971, he was attempting to romance
her 6-year-old daughter at the time by convincing her that God wanted her to be
his bride. The two were “married” in a home ceremony. Wesson was 27 at the
time, Elizabeth 9. They legally married when she was 15, although he’d already
been sexually molesting her for years. She gave birth to their first child not long
after they married and they went on to have ten more.
In addition to their children, one of Elizabeth's younger sisters left her own seven
children with them. He presented his children with vampire names, including his
son’s name "Jeva", an odd amalgam of “Jesus” and “Vampire”. Wesson referred
to himself as "Je Vam Marc Sus Pire” (Ryan, 2005). The family was known to
live in subpar housing. Wesson never worked and, instead, lived off welfare and
the paychecks the women were able to bring home (Schadler, 2010).
Wesson, who homeschooled the children, was reportedly abusive towards
Elizabeth and their children. Using his own handwritten Bible, he taught and
convinced them that Jesus was a vampire. The children learned to believe that
Wesson was God and to refer to him as “Lord” and “Master”. He sexually
abused two of his daughters and three of his nieces and “married” them in home
ceremonies when they were between 7 and 9 years old. All five became
impregnated.
The Murders
Three of the victims were around 1-year-old, while four others were younger
than 9. A 17-year-old girl and a 24-year-old woman made up the other two
victims. In addition to the nine counts of murder, Wesson was also convicted of
fourteen sex crimes which included the molestation and rape of his underage
daughters.
Before the killings, Wesson had planned on moving his daughters and their
children to Washington (Francis, 2007). However, on March 12, 2004 several
members of his extended family and two nieces visited his “compound” and
demanded that he release their children. The police were called and, though they
later testified that they didn’t hear gunshots, others testified that they did (Ryan,
2005). Nine bodies were found in a bedroom full of antique coffins. The victims
had all been shot through the eye (Francis, 2007).
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