Update..

HUDSON, Wis. (AP Apr 16, 2013) – Jurors in western Wisconsin say a father had a mental defect but is still responsible for killing his three young daughters last July.
 
     Aaron Schaffhausen pleaded guilty last month to three counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia. But he argued he was not responsible because of a mental illness.
 
     Jurors deliberated for about 3 1/2 hours before reaching their verdict.
 
     During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutor Gary Freyberg said Schaffhausen was in control of his actions and was a mean, callous person – but not legally insane.
 
     Defense attorney John Kucinski argued Schaffhausen has a rare mental disorder, rooted in a deep dependency on his ex-wife.
 
     The jury found he had the capacity to know what he did was wrong.

 

Previously…

HUDSON, Wis. (AP Apr 12, 2013) – Jurors at Aaron Schaffhausen’s insanity trial have viewed graphic photos of the Wisconsin crime scene where Schaffhausen has admitted killing his three daughters.
 
     Forensic image specialist Larry Ventura testified for the prosecution Friday. Ventura showed images of the girls’ bodies, their bedrooms and pools of blood on the carpet.
 
Schaffhausen didn’t look at any of the photos.
 
     Anna Sorenson with the Wisconsin State Crime Lab testified about the murder scene she saw and the condition of the girls. Police found the girls – 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia – dead in their beds in their River Falls home.
 
     The prosecution contends Schaffhausen killed his daughters to get revenge on his ex-wife. The defense maintains Schaffhausen was legally insane at the time of the July killings.

 

HUDSON, Wis. (AP Apr 10, 2013) – A father who admitted killing his three daughters in western Wisconsin won’t testify at his insanity trial.
 
     The defense has rested in St. Croix (KROY) County Circuit Court where jurors will decide whether Aaron Schaffhausen is legally responsible for the girls’ deaths or whether his mental state means he’s not guilty because of his disease and should be institutionalized.
 
     The prosecution and defense have both provided psychiatric testimony on Schaffhausen’s mental state. 
 
     Psychologist J. Reid Meloy testified Tuesday for the defense. He told the court Schaffhausen meets the requirements of legal insanity.
 
     On Monday, Dr. Ralph Baker, a court-appointed psychiatrist, testified that he found Schaffhausen was legally sane when he killed the girls, ages 5, 8 and 11, in their River Falls home on July 10.

Update..Apr 8, 2013 HUDSON, Wis. (AP) – A psychiatrist has testified that a man who admitted killing his three young daughters in western Wisconsin is not insane.
 
     Dr. Ralph Baker testified for the prosecution Monday as the second week of Aaron Schaffhausen’s insanity trial got underway.
 
     Baker spent nearly four hours interviewing Schaffhausen. Baker told jurors he believes that Schaffhausen has major depression disorder but was not insane the day he killed 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia at their house in River Falls last July.
 
Baker says Schaffhausen told him what happened at the house was a “spur of the moment thing.”
 
     Schaffhausen told Baker he tried to help Cecilia find her shoes, and the next thing he knew, he had his hands on her neck and was strangling her.

 

Reported Apr 2, 2013

MINOT, N.D. (AP) – Prosecutors allege that a man accused of killing his three young daughters in Wisconsin had brought the tool he used in the slayings with him from North Dakota.
 
     Opening statements began Tuesday in the case against Aaron Schaffhausen, who is accused of taking a train from North Dakota to Wisconsin to cut his daughters’ throats before he tucked their bodies into bed.
 
     Schaffhausen’s lawyers say he was driven by mental illness. Prosecutors say that he brought the alleged murder weapon with him some 500 miles, indicating he had planned the slayings.
 
     Schaffhausen had taken a construction job in Minot after his relationship with his ex-wife deteriorated. Jessica Schaffhausen stayed with her daughters in River Falls, Wis.
 
     The girls – ages 11, 8 and 5 – were found dead July 10.

HUDSON, Wis. (AP Apr 2, 2013) – A prosecutor says a Wisconsin man on trial for killing his three young daughters in July was driven by revenge against his ex-wife.
 
     Gary Freyberg, Wisconsin’s assistant attorney general, told jurors Tuesday that Aaron Schaffhausen decided killing the girls was the best way to punish his ex-wife.
 
     The 35-year-old Schaffhausen has admitted killing his daughters – ages 11, 8 and 5 – at their home in River Falls, Wis., last July. Schaffhausen is seeking to convince a jury he’s not responsible due to mental illness.
 
     Freyberg used his opening statement to reject the idea that Schaffhausen couldn’t control his emotions or actions.
 
     Freyberg says Schaffhausen planned the killings, brought the tool he used to cut his daughters’ throats with him from North Dakota and tried to get rid of evidence.

Reported previously..

HUDSON, Wis. (AP Mar 28, 2013)  – A man has pleaded guilty to killing his three young daughters at their home in western Wisconsin, but still maintains he shouldn’t be held responsible because he was insane.
 
     Thirty-five-year-old Aaron Schaffhausen changed his plea Thursday after more than a day of legal wrangling about what kind of evidence would be allowed at his trial. He answered yes when the judge asked if he was guilty.
 
     Jury selection is due to begin Monday in St. Croix County Circuit Court.
 
     The change-in-plea means prosecutors won’t have to prove Schaffhausen killed his daughters at their River Falls home last July. The defense will have to prove 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.