Shootout at the Shaughnessys' | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] in a fraction of a second it changed my life now I'm someone else no warning no
premonition nothing my name is Corey shaunessy and I used to own Gallery Jewelers in Austin
Texas the thing that made the jewelry business really fun is selling engagement rings
selling jewelry to people because they're marking special occasions Ted kind of had the same
passion he loved colored gemstones we called ourselves Gallery Jewelers it should have been called Ted's Jewelers
because it it really was all about him March 1st was just a boring day he came home from work we had
dinner I basically rolled over to go to sleep and the next thing I know one of the dogs
barks this was early morning hours two Shooters enter the shauny home they quietly move through the
home Ted sits up in bed and he grabbed his gun to go see what it was I hadn't even gotten my head back on the pillow I
don't think before I heard the first gun shot and then there was a barrage of gunfire one of the shooters advances
towards the master bedroom where Cory is I grabbed my gun I started shooting back and I ran out of ammo I just bailed
into the closet County 911 do you need police fire or paramedic I don't know I'm in the closet there were shots fired
help me okay we're helping you ma'am help me I heard this I mean horrible horrible moaning and when I came out of
the closet I saw Ted's legs and I could tell that he was dead okay oh my God take a deep breath you doing an awesome
Cory okay oh God Theodore shaes was shot dead in his Austin area home by an intruder Cory shaunessy shot back at the
Intruder and wasn't hurt I was under the impression that this was a a robbery that had gone bad there was nothing
stolen we weren't find anybody that had any ill feelings towards either one of them we didn't have any idea who
committed this murder anybody that can do this is a sociopath it's just absolutely
crazy I don't even know why I really don't know [Music] why [Music] [Music] [Music]
when Travis County Sheriff's detectives Paul Salo and James Moore arrived to investigate a shooting at Ted and Corey
Shaun's Austin Texas home early on March 2nd 2018 they first thought it might be a
robbery gone wrong it looked as though there was a home invasion and a homeowner was
killed inside the sprawling Suburban home it looked like a battlefield 55-year-old Ted
shauny laid dead in a pool of blood near the kitchen table he was shot in the head the back the thigh and the
buttock one of the family's two pet Rottweilers spart had been shot to death as well there was broken window glass
everywhere bullets lodged in the walls casings all over the floor authorities noticed they were not all the same type
we had 40 caliber and 380 so that told us that we had two Shooters Cory would tell police police
she and Ted kept about 20 guns in the home and said she'd used her 357 revolver to shoot back at the attacker
it was a hell of gunfire investigators had noticed a single wide open ground floor window
around the side of the house and wondered if The Intruders had used it to get in somebody took the screen off set
it next to the window outside that open window LED into an unoccupied bedroom and there inside a
drawer police found what seemed like an unlikely coincidence there's a 40 caliber gun box in that drawer it's
missing out of the box well hang on 40 caliber is one of the caliber that you were just describing yes it meant that
Shaun's empty gun boox could have held a pistol that one of The Intruders used and had ejected bullet casings near the
victim that information gets past me while I'm outside outside near detective Moore
First Responders were looking after Corey shaes Cory's hisorical Corey would tell police she had not seen the
attackers faces but she did have a hunch about why they'd come being a jeweler you might someday be a
Target when you hear they own a jewelry store what does that prompt in in in your minds automatically a motive
someone figuring there was some safe with a bunch of jewelry absolutely that's right Cory broke the news by phone to
the shauny son Nick then 19 who lived 2 hours away with his girlfriend Jackie in
College Station Texas they immediately drove to Austin arriving about 8 a.m. Nick comes over and he's he's emotional
he asks me what happened Nick Jackie and Corey all agreed to help the investigation in any way
possible Cory allowed police to search her phone and though Nick said he hadn't been in Austin for about a month he and
Jackie did the same all three also agreed to answer questions at the station of anything that could
be helpful our goal was to just try to get as much information as possible I I didn't hear anything until the dog
started barking and but Cory says the more police questioned her in the coming days the more a traumatic situation went
from bad to worse I'm trying to think of anything I can to to help she says they were not
treating her like a victim I was extremely angry at the sheriff's department investigators still still
weren't sure if the murder was part of a random attack a jewel Heist gone bad or whether it was a targeted
assassination they weren't finding any relevant unidentified Prince at the scene so they had to wonder if their
sole surviving victim Corey shaes was actually a suspect she's the only person in the
house and we have her husband who has been shot to death we know that she owns Firearms so it's
obviously an option for us they called her in for a series of interviews for the last one she brought a lawyer who is
Seated on the left even though I didn't know to not write somebody killed him no
it's not I want to find them me too you got a distraught wife you got a dead husband you have to ask about the
marriage don't you yes Ted was the people person he was the front part of the story investigators learned Cory and Ted
had met in the early 80s at a video arcade in Phoenix they'd quickly discovered they
had a lot in common including a love of jewelry and eventually of each other they married and opened Gallery
Jewelers everything seemed to be just about perfect as the jewelry business grew Ted
and Corey had decided to grow their family too in 2000 they adopted Nick at 16 months old from an orphanage in
Ukraine it was just instant love it was yeah instant Corey says they all bonded even
before bringing him home there were animal crackers involved skillful distribution of animal crackers yes and
by the time we left we were a family she says Ted had a knack for helping people
Express their love with a sparkle everybody loved Ted didn't have any enemies by the time of the murder the
shaes were worth millions but maybe even more valuable to them they counted some
of their customers as close friends we were very happy for Corey being a parent was worth
its waiting gold Nicholas had it every thing a kid could want yes what was he into he liked
animals and he loved cars especially fast ones his father drove race cars for fun and often took
him to the track he loved putting on Ted's helmet and his racing gloves and and all of those things in high school
she says her son found another love her name was Jackie Edison after her parents
divorce Jackie had moved from New Jersey to Austin to live with her father Nick brought her to meet his parents in
2016 it was an awkward dinner but Corey says Jackie eventually won them over and
before long she was spending so much time in the Shaun's house they actually let her move in did you settle into a
okay a serious girlfriend seems to be part of Nick's life and she's okay I I did she was all right
in August of 20177 Nick and Jackie moved out to start a new life in College Station she and school he as a day
trader with his parents Financial backing Ted and Cory would have less than a year to enjoy their empty nest
before that horrible night in March police stayed on the scene for hours trying to process all the evidence
I was actually on call when the murder occurred Amy Meredith was an assistant district
attorney and says police asked her to come help them process and preserve the scene an unusual request she arrived
around 11:00 a.m. and after looking around began to believe as they did that Ted shaunessy probably knew whoever had
attacked him this was not a stranger this was not a stranger killing Meredith was sure the home was
just too big and too dark for a pair of random robbers or jewel thief wannabes to find their way around maybe even more
importantly there was nothing stolen nothing from that safe no valuables missing from the rest of the
house so everything for you pointed to Inside Job yes without a [Music] doubt [Music]
Cory Shaun's frustration with investigators was growing thank you all right again I appreciate you guys coming
in she say she'd known from the start that she was a suspect in her husband's murder she says she needed money for the
business in the following weeks and it didn't help when she tried to cash in his million dooll life insurance policy
I was the only beneficiary that could only mean that they suspected me let me just ask did you have anything to do
with this absolutely not but Amy Meredith says Corey had started raising red flags immediately after leaving the
scene within hours of the Murder She reportedly stated there would be no funeral and inquired about having the
house cleaned we had to make sure that she did not have any involvement but Corey wasn't the only
member of Ted's Family who was Raising suspicion the shaunessy son Nick had been more than a 100 miles away at the
time of the murder at the scene that morning he'd been emotional but what struck detective Soo was one of Nick's
first questions I tell him it looks like somebody came into the home and shot your dad to death and how did he absorb
that news he asked me did he suffer was that an odd question it definitely struck me as OD
yes even more so police say because as the morning wore on Nick became much less interested in speaking with police
than with the reporters who had started showing up Nick and Jackie continuously tried to talk to the mediate we asked
him to to stop and to stay in the scene and then Nick did something really odd says detective Moore he walked
directly over to examine that ground floor wide open side window the room it led to had once been his him going to
that side of the house to look specifically at that window which you can't see from just the front of the
house so for him to know that that was even involved he did not have that information how does he know the entry
point unless he was involved in creating the entry point sometimes people will get information from Cross talk with
detectives or law enforcement and so I I didn't automatically get super suspicious but
it was catching my attention something on Nick's phone had caught their attention as well an app
that gave him access to his parents' alarm Corey told them the family often chose not to arm the system and that it
had been switched off that night but a authorities noticed something in the account history there was an activation
for an open window the time of the window being opened was 4:27 that morning following that was glass Brak
activations we believe that's when the bullets started breaking the glass in the house that's when Ted died that's
when the shots were being fired was this important to have extremely police also saw something that
seemed important in Jackie Edison's Behavior we were going to do gunshot residue tests on their hands we then
separated them and at that time Jackie broke down hysterically and what' you make of it that was a major red flag for
me we knew there was something more to this at that point a woman officer put your mom on the
phone and then your mom told you what happened yeah she just like someone to came the house there was an exchange of
gunfire I believe she fired a shot and then she ran to the closet in questioning later that
day Nick and Jackie reminded police they'd been at their home in College Station when the shooting happened we
both moved to College Station and he just works from home a few days later investigators got
a search warrant once we get in the apartment we're going through it we're finding ammunition though common among
gun owners the ammunition was the same brand in caliber that was found at the crime scene and investigators were about
to find proof the couple was keeping secrets we find a Emer certificate for Nick and Jacqueline you discovered that
Nick and Jackie were married by searching Nick's apartment in all of the conversation you were having they never
said that they were married no a teenage friend of Nicks named Spencer Patterson
Spencer Patterson who'd been certified as a minister online had married them 8 months earlier police weren't the only
ones surprised you and Ted never knew no Corey shauny says Nick and Jackie didn't tell her about their clandestine
marriage until after the murder and I told them I said this is not you shouldn't have done this you're too
young trying to be a good mom she says she promised to help them plan a proper wedding I said you need to do it the
right way Cory had ample opportunity to make sure it happened because over the next few days Nick and Jackie moved back
into her house we were planning the engagement party we had the guest list Jackie was picking out
invitations that's especially chilling because while police initially had looked at all three for the murder they
now suspected just too and that Nick and Jackie had also targeted Corey but it was still only a working
Theory you can't say anything to Corey no that's a hard line to walk if you have two people who planned her
killing now living with her are you worried about Cory's safety of course of course but Corey shaes says what worried
her was the possibility authorities were trying to frame her son who by now was working in his father's place at the
jewelry store there is a set of circumstances that the police are trying to to to make work in the easiest way
that they can on March 10th 2018 she hired her son the best defense attorney she could find you could have told me
aliens landed on the front yard and I would have believed that before I would have believed that Nicholas and Jackie
plan to have us killed [Music] Cory shaunessy knew police were suspicious of Nick and Jackie but she
says she had no reason to think they were right after all she said say I don't know they've been wrong about her
the last thing that I would ever do would be kill my husband and I thought well if they think
I did it it's not a stretch for them to think Nicholas did it but the closer police looked the more incriminating
evidence they seemed to find that Nick and Jackie had planned to have both shaunas killed while phone records
showed Nick had been more than a 100 miles away at the time of the murder they also so showed he was lying when he
said he hadn't been to Austin for a month we ultimately see cell phone usage in Austin on February 28th which is just
two days before Ted ends up getting killed investigators wondered if he had been in town making final preparations
there were text messages on Nick and Jackie's phones that police say showed a suspicious conversation how important
was a text message that he sent out February 23 24 Nick is saying he's working on it and Jackie's response to
the text message was do they want 50k or not and she says we can't afford to pay
half before in another exchange Nick asks her to withdraw money from her account quote
so if it happens cash in hand they do make this withdrawal Jackie withdrew a, ous from
the bank just days before the murder authorities suspected it was no coincidence then in May of 2018 they
talked to the man who had officiated Nick and Jackie's wedding that high school friend Spencer Patterson trying
to get a hold of Spencer was kind of difficult at first investigators believed Patterson might be a suspect
but when they finally reached him he proved to be a critical witness instead he told them just before the murder Nick
had talked about coming into $8 million with Ted and Corey gone Nick can put a dollar sign on the lives of his
parents yes that's chilling it is Patterson showed them text messages that were even more chilling there was
also communication between Spencer and Nicholas where Nicholas was trying to hire him to kill a family just walk in
and and shoot a family writes Nick steal all their no mask needed cuz they'll all
be dead sper didn't want to go along with it but Nick still pitched the idea police cleared Patterson and on May
29th 2018 they arrested Nick shaunessy and Jackie Edison for criminal solicitation Corey couldn't believe it
I'm still under the assumption that he's being ly accused for months Cory had stood by
Nick but she told us when she read the arrest affidavits and saw the evidence her rocksolid belief in his innocence
began to crumble I got to where I understood that yes they were involved in some way but as a mother she says she
still couldn't convince herself they deliberately tried to kill anyone I was then hoping that they had
maybe gotten caught up in something something in College Station where maybe Nicholas owed someone money or maybe
there was some sort of a strange drug thing or maybe he told the wrong person that we were
Jewelers confident Nick and Jackie were behind the attack police hop sometime in jail might
make them come clean about who had actually pulled the trigger for the moment though neither one was talking
The Next Step was who were the actual Shooters and how do we figure this out the evidence Trail had essentially run
cold so we kind of hit a stall point when in early July 4 months after the murder detective Moore decided to review
some security video from Nick and Jackie's porch recorded just 2 days before the attack I see two individuals
show up to his front door Moore says he noticed something about one of the men that made him freeze the video something
he was wearing a green Anderson t-shirt window comp a window company this feels like a break and it only happens because
you isolated a frame of the video from the security camera yeah he and Soo drove to the window company where their
hard work ran into more good luck by sheer coincidence an employees daughter said she'd actually met the man in the
freeze frame apparently he'd only worked there for a few days 4 years earlier and
this woman still remembered his name Sergeant what are the odds of a hit like this on the identity it was crazy that
we we got that break his name was Cameron vosbeck and he wasn't home that day but his wife answered the
door and quickly got their attention I know why you're here that kid who hired somebody to to kill his jewelry store
parents hang on she doesn't know who you guys are you identify yourselves as detectives and she says I know why
you're here yes she said a few months earlier a man named Johnny Leon had asked her husband to commit murder for
money but he turned him down police ruled out vmech as a suspect but Leon turned out to be the other person in the
security video from Nick and Jackie's porch when they brought him in for questioning he told them he was no
murderer but he admitted Nick had tried to hire him I'm not going to lie to you when someone offers you 100K you're
going to think about it he's luring you into this to commit murder police were convinced that Leon
had taken the bait I'm just telling you we know you're involved in this we know what happened you know I'm it's
absolutely there's no doubt Leon was arrested for a capital murder and on his phone police found
evidence he may not have acted alone there was a flurry of contacts around the time of the killing with a Fort
Worth man named Aran Smith they also discovered both men had arrest records in fact the two had been
arrested together for drugs a year earlier detective Moore and I interviewed him he did admit that he had
met Nick he gave a a lot of good information Smith opened up about the details of that night and broke down in
the process you're the only person shown regret I don't understand how how could
you kill somebody and not have any emotion about it and you actually killed him I was just in the situation I'm I'm
I'm devastated I cannot sleep at night prosecutors were closer than ever to having everything they needed to make
their case we've got enough now let's go to trial something Nick shaunessy told us he'd
wanted to avoid did you pay these two men to go kill your parents after police arrested the last
of their four suspects Aran Smith detective Salo says Smith told them he wasn't just there for Ted's murder yes I
was there he acknowledged firing the Fatal shot and then made a stunning request I requested death penalty the
death penalty I killed somebody I deserve a die he also told police where to find
the murder weapon it was the 40 caliber pistol missing from from that box they'd
found in Nick's old bedroom the 40 caliber gun that killed Ted was Ted's yes for a mother who'd struggled for
months to keep faith in her son it felt like the last straw too much had happened that pointed to Nicholas and
Jackie having involvement and Cory was horrified to realize she'd spent months Sheltering
the very people who'd planned to have Ted and her murdered that night what a chilling
thought two people who tried to have you killed and they're living in your home very it's very chilling I bought all the
groceries I paid all the bills I bought her clothing this is diabolical absolutely they thought they had gotten
away with it do you do you prefer Jackie or Jacqueline or ja Jackie but after their arrest it took just a couple of
weeks for Jackie to blame Nick did Nicholas hire somebody par yeah and Jackie seemed to know why he'd
done it she says Nick was in desperate Financial Straits with a failing day trading business and thousands in
overdue loans including at least one from Corey I think his mom gave him $30,000 and she expected money in return
but he wasn't paying her after her cooperation author ities released Jackie On A reduced Bond and prosecutor Amy
Meredith resolved to go after Nick for the maximum we're going to try Nicholas shaes for capital
murder at this point were you prepared to testify against Nick yes Nick shaes and the two alleged
Hitmen were charged with capital murder but by the spring of 2021 Amy Meredith had left her job as as assistant
district attorney and there was a new DA Jose Garza whose office made the men an
offer avoid a possible death sentence by pleading guilty to A reduced charge of murder and served 35 years with the
possibility of parole Leon and Smith agreed and Corey wrote to Nick to suggest he do the same if I could speak
to Ted I think that would been his choice Nick shaunessy accepted the deal he could be released when he's 36 in the
summer of 20123 we visited him in prison near Houston did you hire people to go kill your parents yes Jackie and I
participated in multiple aspects to never mind participated in multiple aspects did you pay these two men to go
kill your parents yes Nick told us he's sorry for all of it I know that I'm here
because of those actions Nick at the end of the day are you sorry for what you did or are you sorry that you got caught
I'm most truly passionately sorry for what I did and Nick told us he never would have done it if not for Jackie it
was a very toxic relationship although he stood to inherit his parents money eventually he
told us he wasn't prepared to wait were you you at all thinking what am I doing of course it was always in the back of
my head like red flags like stop don't go the back of your head why not the front of your head I guess the the the
validation or approval from Jackie it is hard to know how much Jackie Edison should be blamed or what punishment she
deserves and jurors won't get to decide she too got a deal from the office of the new d a for pleading guilty to
conspiracy to commit capital murder By Terror threat or other felony a jail sentence of 120 days and 10 years
probation it's it's astounding it's absolutely astounding she began serving her time in June of
2023 it is an outright dismissal of everything that I went through as a victim and it's a dismissal of Ted's
life three are doing 35 years one is doing 120 days Cory says that's outrageous what are your thoughts I had
no involvement once I left the District Attorney's office on Jackie's case Amy Meredith was working elsewhere before
prosecutors offered the plea deals Cory's feelings aren't lost on her do you understand her rage I I absolutely
understand that she is upset Cory is so upset that when the new prosecutors asked her to appear at
Jackie's 2023 plea hearing she refused instead recording this video at home to be played in court I'm alive because
your plan to have me murdered didn't succeed you are a monster you are evil and everyone needs
to know it you knew what was about to happen and yet you sat home and did nothing because
you want wanted it to happen we wanted to ask Jackie Edison about that and other things but she declined our
request for an interview on the day she was released from jail our producer Jenna Jackson approached her hey
jacine what do you make of Nick Shaun's apology see more evidence from the case at 48
hours.com [Music] Corey and Nick shaunessy haven't spoken directly since his 2018
arrest when you look in the mirror do you see evil my mom stated that me being evil I don't see evil and me and these
days it's safe to say they don't see eye to eye in fact there may be only one thing they
do agree on Jackie is not a victim this is a 50/50 thing most definitely did Jaclyn Edison get away with murder
absolutely on October 17th 2023 Jackie Edison walked out of an Austin area jail after serving her 4 month sentence
hey jacine we'd been asking for an interview for months I don't want to do the interviews but our producer Jenna
Jackson had some questions for her anyway Nick got 35 years the Hitman got the same you got 120 days are you
getting away with murder no I think that I think that it's fair I think it accurately
reflects the level of involvement Corey and Nick have both told us is that you were a partner in
this murder plot yeah I think Nick is is saying whatever has to say to kind of clear his name um and cor is very
much in denial about what really happened you weren't in on this plot and not in didn't get money out to pay the
hit man no man is she innocent absolutely not no she knew she knew what he was trying to
do she could have stopped this at any time I tried to stop him but investigators say there is no
evidence Jackie ever tried to stop the murder she's no printice in this and according to what Nick told authorities
Jackie had been making plans for spending the shaunas money I found out that Jackie had already picked out the
car she was going to buy her mother with the money that they made off of the murder of you and Ted yes I'm not
defending her to by any degree though she did eventually help them make their case against the person they identified
as the key culprit they're both to blame who took more action it's Nick you take
Nick out of this you don't have the incident you take Jackie out still happens do you understand Corey's
frustration I do absolutely and we empathize with her but more and Salos say Jackie's plea
deal wasn't their call our job ended at the arrest and there's not a single step
further that we can take it we wanted to ask da Jose Gara exactly why Jackie Edison got 120 days after the
other three got 35 years but he wouldn't agree to an interview a district attorney spokesperson sent us a
statement saying quote our office takes acts of violence seriously and is committed to holding people who commit
violent crimes accountable the statement also said Edison is on 10 years probation and if she violates the terms
she could face 20 years in prison Corey shaunessy says a full explanation from authorities would have helped her make
sense of something that has always struck her as impossibly wrong so no one's ever explained to you why this
enormous disparity in sentence no absolutely not it's a slap in the face to my mother now you're concerned about
your mother most definitely true or not Nick shaunessy told us he hopes someday Corey will
agree to speak with him what would you say to her I wish I could tell my mom how truly
sorry I am that this is not something I'm proud of and I failed her as a son it means nothing to me do you think
he believes it what he's saying I don't know that person I have no idea who Nicholas
shanesy is and Corey says there is no point responding to an apology she was never meant to hear in
my mind I am supposed to be dead and so I'm a ghost and ghosts can't speak but even after a betrayal no
mother should ever have to see Corey still can't bring herself to condemn her son altogether do you still love your
son I love the person I knew to be my son before this happened you love that 8-year-old boy racing cars with his dad
yes she knows that boy is gone forever and so is the life she and Ted tried to build around him Nicholas and Jackie
destroyed my entire world they took my husband they took memories they took my business they took everything I had that
I cared about but now living out of State under a different name Corey is determined to
make the most of every day it'll always be there it'll always be a part of who I
am but I've been given life and I need to do something with [Music] [Music] it she had like a really infectious
smile and like the loving heart beloved friend and daughter taken too soon what happened to her in this car Kay's
parents track it Down For answers you became in investigators we did I don't think the stakes could be any higher 48
hours Saturday on CBS streaming on Paramount [Music] Plus

A gunfight in the dead of night. The targets fire back. Their son in the crosshairs of suspicion. "48 Hours" contributor Jim Axelrod reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Corey Shaunessy recounts her husband's murder and the shocking involvement of her son and his girlfriend in the plot.

Key points

A Night of Terror. Corey Shaunessy recounts the harrowing night when her husband was murdered.
The Investigation Begins. Detectives investigate the murder scene, suspecting a robbery gone wrong.
Family Secrets Uncovered. Police discover Nick and Jackie’s secret marriage while investigating the murder.
Shocking Arrests. Nick Shaunessy and Jackie Edison are arrested for solicitation of murder.
A Break in the Case. Detectives identify a potential suspect through security footage.
Chilling Realization. Cory discovers the horrifying truth about her son and Jackie living in her home.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Oh my God, take a deep breath, you're doing an awesome job.

Emergency operator reassures Corey during the chaos.

2:11WatchJan 19, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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