- Corey and Ted Shaughnessy were woken by their dogs around 4 am, Ted was shot dead while checking the noise
- The targeted nature of the attack made police suspect more than a random break-in
- The identity of the person behind Ted’s murder would ultimately shock and horrify the world
In the early hours of March 2, 2018, Corey and Ted Shaughnessy were woken by their dogs barking.
The couple, who’d recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, were well-known in their community for running a jewellery business.
Hearing what sounded like intruders, Ted, 55, went to the hall to investigate while Corey armed herself with a handgun from her bedside table.
But suddenly, shots rang out and Ted was brutally gunned down.
As the intruder turned on Corey, she somehow managed to avoid the bullets in the dark and fired back before hiding in a wardrobe where she called emergency services.
When police arrived, they found Ted dead from multiple gunshot wounds, along with the family’s rottweiler Bart.
READ MORE: Killamarsh murders: My sweet girl was killed at a deadly sleepover
But Corey had survived the horror.
The crime sent shockwaves through the family’s close-knit town.
Investigators initially thought the Shaughnessys had been targeted because of their jewellery business.
But nothing had been stolen and there was no sign of forced entry.
As Corey grappled with her grief and trauma, her only son, Nicolas, 19, and his wife Jaclyn Edison, also 19, moved in to keep her company.
It was also announced on Facebook that Nicolas would continue his father’s legacy and take over Gallerie Jewelers.
After all, Nicolas had been Ted and Corey’s pride and joy since they adopted him as a toddler.
READ MORE: Tinder romance turned deadly: The murder of Kendra Hatcher
They’d also welcomed Jaclyn into their family with open arms.
Corey even treated Jaclyn to a shopping spree for her birthday, gifting her a diamond solitaire pendant.
But two months after the grisly home invasion, there was a breakthrough.
Nicolas Shaughnessy and Jaclyn Edison were arrested and charged with solicitation to commit capital murder in the death of Nicolas’ father, Ted.
Investigators alleged the pair organised for two accomplices – Johnny Leon III, 24, and Arieon Smith, 23 – to enter the family’s home through an unlocked window in Nicolas’ childhood bedroom.
The security system, which was only accessible to Ted, Corey and their son, had been deactivated remotely from the area where he and Edison lived, according to a police
affidavit.
No-one was more shocked by the arrests than Corey. She stood by her son and daughter-inlaw, putting out a statement to say the family would fight the allegations.
READ MORE: My stepmum murdered dad to be with her lover
But by the time Nicolas fronted court in April 2021, the true horror of his actions had been made clear to his mum.
Investigators revealed an informant told them Shaughnessy had been expecting to make $2.9 million from his parents’ life insurance policy and a further $8.9 million from the sale of their business.
Detectives also found text messages between Shaughnessy and Edison days before Ted’s death, discussing payments.
Edison had written, Do they want $50k… we can’t afford to pay half before.
Searching the couple’shome, they found a boxof ammunition with sixrounds missing thatmatched the bullets foundin Ted’s body.
Leon told detectives Shaughnessy offered him $150,000 to commit the killings.
Leon then asked Smith to participate, offering him $7500 instalments.
In a plea deal, Nicolas Shaughnessy, Johnny Leon and Arieon Smith all pleaded guilty to murder and were each sentenced to 35 years behind bars.
I held on to the tiniest string of hope that maybe it wasn’t true, Corey wrote to the Travis County, Texas, court.
They ate the food that I brought and cooked for them, she said of her son and daughter in- law.
They planned their future of profiting from the business that Ted and I had built for over 20 years.
They took everything that I had to give, after failing to take my life.
In June this year, Jaclyn Edison, now 22, pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder her in-laws and was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.
In court, it was Corey who had the final words for her former daughter-in-law.
‘We opened our home and our hearts to you. And you and Nicolas took everything from us,’ Corey read in a pre-recorded statement.
‘How long will it take for you to find another family to destroy? How long will it be before Bonnie finds her next Clyde? You are a monster.’
