AUSTIN, TEXAS: Jaclyn Alexa Edison, a woman who helped her now-former husband, Nicolas Shaughnessy, to execute a “murder-for-hire” plot to kill her in-laws in 2018, managed to avoid prison time after being sentenced to 10 years of probation in Austin, Texas, last week. The ruling came after she reportedly cut a deal with District Attorney Jose Garza, whose election was backed by billionaire George Soros.
Edison reportedly pled guilty to conspiracy to attempt to commit capital murder two years after Shaughnessy, and her two hired hit men, Arieon Smith and Johnny Leon, agreed to take up plea deals to serve 35 years in prison. Edison was the final defendant indicted in the case and was reportedly offered to take up deferred adjudication, a form of probation where the defendant is allowed to accept responsibility for a crime without having a record of the conviction. The latest ruling left several people outraged at the district attorney for allowing Edison to avoid jail time.
What is known about Jaclyn Alexa Edison?
Edison is the ex-wife of Nicolas and the former daughter-in-law of prominent jeweler Ted Shaughnessy, the owner of Gallerie Jewelers, and his wife, Corey. Edison was recently sentenced to 10 years of probation for orchestrating a “murder-for-hire” plot along with Nicolas to kill her in-laws in 2018. Edison and Nicolas were both 19 years old when they hired Smith and Leon to murder the Shaughnessys, who adopted Nicolas from Russia when he was 18 months old.
Investigators said that the teen was reportedly motivated to kill the Shaughnessys for money, especially their $2 million life insurance policy which named Nicolas as the sole beneficiary if one of his parents were to die. Officials said that Shaughnessy approached several people in the months leading up to the execution of the murder-for-hire plan, asking if they were willing to get paid to kill his parents.
Edison and her then-husband staged the murder as a violent home invasion incident. On March 2, 2018, Corey called 911 to report the presence of an intruder inside their Austin home. After arriving at the scene, officials found Ted dead from multiple gunshot wounds. A family Rottweiler named, Bart, was also shot dead. Authorities said that Corey was also asked to be killed in the murder-for-hire plot but she remained unharmed during the attack. Edison and Nicolas were arrested after police found ammunition at their home in College Station which matched casings found at the murder scene.
'How long will it be before Bonnie finds her next Clyde?'
After the former’s sentencing, a taped recording of Corey’s allocation statement was played for the court. “Do you remember your 19th birthday? I took you out for lunch and a day of shopping at Nordstrom. Your husband Nicholas surprised you with the Coach purse that you had wanted. And I gave you a half-carat diamond solitaire pendant. It’s your birthstone. And more importantly, it was the first birthday gift that I gave to you — my new daughter-in-law as a way to welcome you into our family,” Corey said, as per KXAN.
“Ted and I took you when you said you had nowhere to go, that your father beat you and you were afraid to go home,” she said. “I guess after you and Nick shared all those Sunday dinners with me, Ted, Nick’s grandparents, uncle [and] are family friends, you’d go and plot some more to kill us,” she continued in part. “You could have saved Ted with one phone call. That’s all it would have taken just one Ted was a good man, a good father, a good friend and my husband of 30 years. You conspired with Nicolas to have him killed. We opened our home and our hearts to you. And you and Nicholas took everything from us,” Corey added.
“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. You are evil and everyone needs to know it,” she said about Edison.
The latter reportedly shook her head side-to-side during the call and appeared to quietly sob at one point, the publication reported. As part of her plea deal, Edison will be required to serve 10 years of probation and stay in the Travis County Jail for two days every year on the anniversary of Ted’s death.
The woman was also required to give up her passport and cannot leave Texas without first informing her probation officers. She is also prohibited from contacting the victim’s family again and asked to take an anger management course. According to court documents, Edison cannot reduce the duration of her probation.
District Attorney Garza under fire after Jaclyn Alexa Edison’s sentencing
District Attorney Garza came under fire after allowing Edison to avoid prison time by giving her 10 years of probation. Austin Police Retired Officers Association President Dennis Farris said Edison should have faced a similar sentence as her ex-husband. “They literally are just as guilty, she’s just as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger,” he told Fox Digital. Steve Brittain, the attorney representing Corey also slammed the ruling and explained that a deferred adjudication is usually offered to first-time drug offenders or in cases of intoxication manslaughter.
“In the close to half a century that I’ve worked with criminal law as a prosecutor and a defense attorney… I have never seen anything like this. I can’t put it together in my mind, and I just don’t understand it,” he told KXAN. “She is evil. And in my view, very dangerous,” Brittain added. Nicholas Kantor, a man whose brother was killed after he was caught in the middle of a fight between gangs, said people should ask themselves how they would feel if Edison murdered one of their own parents.
“Would you feel contentment that the DA provided you with justice and peace of mind to settle your heart?” he said, before calling Edison’s plea a “sweetheart deal,” the Daily Mail reported. Numerous families, including Kantor’s, have slammed DA Garza for his alleged lack of actions to punish violent offenders. Garza has also faced criticism from the Austin Police Department for arresting officers over incidents that were handled through the internal process of the department.
