Why did someone want Texas couple Ted and Corey Shaughnessy dead?
When wealthy Austin jewelers Corey and Ted Shaughnessy are attacked by intruders in their own home, investigators initially wondered if it was a robbery gone wrong. The answer was more sinister than anyone could have expected.
March 2, 2018: A shootout in the dead of night
In a sprawling suburban home in Austin, Texas, 55-year-old Ted Shaughnessy, and his wife Corey were asleep, when in the middle of the night, they were awoken by home invaders. When Ted went to check out the scene, he was faced with a barrage of gunfire.
Corey Shaughnessy fights back
As shooters continued to fire in the Shaughnessy home, Corey used her own handgun to shoot back. When Corey ran out of ammunition, she hid in a closet and called the police, frantically pleading for help. Ted, her husband of 30 years, lay dead near their kitchen table.
Bart, one of the family's beloved Rottweilers also shot dead
Investigators arrive on the scene
Paul Salo and James Moore of the Travis County Sheriff's Office arrived to investigate the shooting. Moore described the crime scene as, "a hail of gunfire."
The Shaughnessy home was in a state of chaos with broken glass everywhere and bullets lodged in the walls. Investigators found different types of bullet casings on the floor. This led them to believe that there was more than one shooter responsible for the attack.
An open window raises suspicion
While inspecting the scene, investigators noticed an open window on the side of the house, and they wondered if the intruders had used it to get into the Shaughnessy residence. The window led to an unoccupied bedroom that had once belonged to their son, Nick Shaughnessy.
Inside a drawer in that room, police discovered an empty gun box and wondered if the missing gun, a .40 caliber gun, could have been used in the shooting.
Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison arrive
Corey broke the news of her husband's death to Nick, then 19, who lived two hours away with his girlfriend Jackie Edison in College Station, Texas. They immediately drove to Austin. At the scene, Nick did something investigators thought was odd. The open side window was not visible from the street. Without being told it was open or that investigators thought it might have been the entry point, Nick walked right over to it.
Why was the couple targeted?
Ted and Corey Shaughnessy owned a jewelry store in Austin, Texas. Corey thought that being jewelers might have made them targets. But Amy Meredith, the former assistant district attorney, noted that nothing from the home was stolen, and began to believe it was an inside job.
Police question Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison
Nick and Edison were taken to the station for questioning later that day. They told detectives they had been at their apartment in College Station at the time of the attack. Nick also told detectives that he had not been in Austin for a month.
A search warrant reveals more clues
A few days later, investigators executed a search warrant for Nick and Edison's apartment. In their search, investigators found ammunition. Though common among gun owners, they discovered that the ammunition was the same brand and caliber that was found at the crime scene.
Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison are married and move in with Corey
Through their search, investigators also learned that Nick and Jackie were secretly married. This was news to Corey, as well. Despite feeling they were too young, she offered to help them plan a proper wedding. And she had ample opportunity because in the days after Ted's death, the young couple moved in with Corey.
At this point, investigators suspected Nick and Edison may have planned the attack on the Ted and Corey. Since it was still just a working theory, they could not tell Corey.
Corey Shaughnessy stands by her son as investigators close in
Regardless of the suspicions surrounding her son, Corey stood by him, hiring him a defense attorney and maintaining his innocence.
Nick Shaughnessy's whereabouts are questioned
As authorities continued to investigate, incriminating information arose. Although phone records showed Nick had been more than 100 miles away at the time of his father's murder, they also showed evidence of a lie. Nick told authorities he hadn't been to Austin for a month, but phone records proved otherwise. Phone usage showed Nick in Austin on Feb. 28, just two days before Ted's death.
Jackie Edison withdraws money from the bank
Investigators also say they found text messages between Nick and Edison that show suspicious correspondence. In one text, Nick asks Edison to make a cash withdrawal. Detectives say that Jackie did in fact make this withdrawal, taking out $1,000 from the bank, just days before the murder.
A key witness
In May of 2018, investigators talked to a high school friend of Nick's named Spencer Patterson. Patterson proved to be an important witness. He told investigators that Nick had approached him, letting him know that he expected to come into $8 million once his parents died.
A double arrest
On May 29, 2018, Nick Shaughnessy and Jackie Edison were arrested for criminal solicitation.
Revealing surveillance footage
Security footage from Nick and Jackie's front porch proved to be a major turn in the case. Recorded just two days before the attack, it shows Nick greeting two men at the front door.
One of the men in the video is wearing a T-shirt with a logo, which led detectives to a nearby window company. An employee's daughter told detectives she had met the man in the surveillance footage. His name was Cameron Vosmek.
Cameron Vosmek's wife tells all
Detectives went to Vosmek's home, and he wasn't there. But his wife seemed to know exactly why they had shown up.
She told them a man named Johnny Leon had asked her husband to commit murder for money. Vosmek declined to help Leon and was ruled out as a suspect. But detectives now knew who the other man in the surveillance video was.
A third arrest
Johnny Leon was questioned by police and arrested for capital murder. And police were able to find evidence that Leon did not act alone. On Leon's phone investigators found a flurry of contacts around the time of the murder with a man named Arieon Smith.
A confession
Police brought Smith in for questioning and later arrested him for capital murder. Smith opened up about the events of that night. He not only confessed to being there for the murder, he also admitted to killing Ted. And he led investigators to the missing murder weapon. It was the .40 caliber pistol, missing from the gun box in Nick's childhood bedroom.
Jackie Edison cooperates and turns on Nick
After Edison's arrest, she decided to cooperate with police. She confirmed that Nick had hired somebody to kill his parents.
Capital murder charges
Nick Shaughnessy and the two alleged hit men were charged with capital murder. All three men took a plea: plead guilty to a reduced charge of murder in return for a sentence of 35 years, with the possibility of parole
Jackie Edison's plea deal
For her cooperation, Jackie Edison was offered a different deal. She agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit capital murder by terror threat or other felony, and serve 120 days and 10 years probation. Additionally, for the next 10 years, on the anniversary of Ted Shaughnessy's murder, Edison must spend the night in jail.
Oct. 17, 2023: Jackie Edison is free
In October 2023, on the day Edison was released from jail after serving her four-month sentence, "48 Hours" producer Jenna Jackson was there with questions and a camera. When asked, Edison denied being in on the murder plot and claimed she tried to stop Nick. Investigators say there is no evidence that Jackie ever tried to stop the murder.
Remembering Ted Shaughnessy
Corey says her husband Ted treasured making people feel special through his passion for gems. His absence is felt deeply by those who knew and loved him. Talking about her survival from the deadly attack, Corey says she knows she's "been given life" and intends to make the most of it.
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- Austin
- 48 Hours
- Texas
- Murder
