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This episode of Swindled may contain graphic descriptions or audio recordings of disturbing events which may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Thank you, Austin, for making Charles Mond Volkswagen the number one Volkswagen dealer in Central Texas. At Charles Mond Volkswagen, you'll find incredible deals, attractive lease offers, and customer-friendly financing on our exciting new lineup, like the all-new 2011 Jetta. Plus, you'll get a chance to see the new Jetta in the next few weeks.
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Sure, from the outside it might have appeared as if Eric Charles Mond had it all. The wife, the kids, the executive position, the once-in-a-lifetime hunting trips, the $5 million 10-bathroom home on the golf course. But rich people have problems too, you know. And Eric Mond had a big problem. It started with a text message he sent to his mistress in Nashville, Tennessee on February 5th, 2020.
Eric waited for his date at the hotel where he always stayed while visiting his son at college in Nashville. Right on time, 33-year-old Holly Williams walked through the bar doors. She looked even better than the last time Eric saw her.
This is Mariah Timms, a journalist at the Tennessean newspaper, talking to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper about what she had learned about Holly Williams. Holly Williams didn't know much about Eric Moore. That's the name Eric Maughan gave to her.
When Eric Mond returned to his real life in Austin, Texas two days later, he said hi to his children, kissed his wife, and the charade of happiness continued.
But then about three weeks later, on Sunday, March 1st, 2020, Eric Mond received a text message from a man named Bill Lanway. He said he was Holly Williams' boyfriend and he knew who Eric Mond was. Not Eric Moore, Eric Mond from the Mond Automotive Group. Bill had googled the number Holly had saved in her phone which was linked to the business. And now, Bill Lanway was demanding an unspecified amount of money or else the affair would be exposed.
William "Bill" Lanway was a 36-year-old auto glass technician that lived in Nashville. Tragedy seemed to stalk him. As a child, Bill's father was imprisoned for holding him and his sister hostage at gunpoint during a dispute with their mother. A week later, Bill Lanway's father was released from jail on a day pass for Thanksgiving. He returned to the apartment and stabbed Bill Lanway's mother to death in front of the children.
Years later, Bill Lanway would have a child of his own, but she died at age five from a rare brain cancer. Friends say Bill was never the same after that. He was quiet and angry. He could be violent. Holly Williams had seen that side of Bill too many times to count throughout their tumultuous relationship.
In January 2020, a month before her final meeting with Eric Mond, Holly obtained a restraining order against Bill, who had been charged with aggravated assault by strangulation with intent to kill and false imprisonment. Bill Landway had also stolen and killed Holly's dog Max, who was found dead on the side of the road four days later. Bill was awaiting trial for those charges when he texted Eric.
How much Holly Williams told Eric Mond about her violent ex is unclear, but apparently it was enough for Eric to take Bill's threats seriously. A few days after receiving the text, Eric Mond hired an Austin-based private security company called Speartip Security. The company specialized in private estate security, special event services, armored vehicle services, and most importantly, helping clients respond to extortion demands.
Speartip Security was owned by Gilad Piled, a 47-year-old former member of the Israeli Defense Forces. Gilad, or Gil as his friends called him, had set up shop in Austin after abruptly losing his longtime gig as Charlie Sheen's bodyguard during one of the actor's meltdowns.
For the Erich Mann job, Gil Pallet recruited two former US Marines who now worked in private security. Brian Brockway was a 46-year-old Austin-based security expert whose outgoing voicemail message famously greeted callers with, quote,
Brockway would be joined by Adam Carey, a 30-year-old contractor from North Carolina who had previously been convicted of impersonating a law enforcement officer and possessing weapons of mass destruction. Over the next three weeks, Pallad, Brockway, and Carey formulated a plan to, quote, do everything at their disposal to stop the attempted extortion of Eric Mond, who paid them $15,000 up front. The Speartip crew went to work straight away.
Brian Brockway and Adam Carey met in Nashville on March 9th to do some reconnaissance work on the couple. They quickly discovered where Holly Williams and Bill Lanaway lived in West Nashville. They made a note of what cars they drove. Brian Brockway even downloaded a free text messaging app to try and communicate with Holly and Bill, but there was no response. All of this intel was included in a brief sent back to Gil Pallet in Austin.
On March 10th, 2020, Brockway and Carey followed Bill Landway to a supermarket in a Hertz rental car. There was an attempt to corner Landway and confront him, but there were people around or something. Maybe the timing wasn't right. Whatever the case, Bill Landway got away unnoticed. Brian Brockway and Adam Carey would not let this happen again.
The next night, around midnight, Eric Mon's hired security spotted Bill Lanoway and Holly Williams in the parking lot of their apartment complex. Brockway and Carey moved in with guns drawn. Bill Lanoway resisted. He was shot twice in the head, twice in the torso, and once in the left arm. Brockway and Carey loaded Lanoway's body into his own white 2005 Acura. They instructed Holly Williams to get into the back seat.
One of the men drove the Acura to a construction site on Old Hickory Boulevard, three miles northwest of the apartment complex. The other man followed in the rental. The Acura came to a stop near an embankment. The driver turned around and shot Holly Williams in the temple and again in the chest. Bill Landway's body was placed in the driver's seat, and the car was driven into a tree. Both airbags were deployed.
The bodies were discovered by construction workers when the sun rose. There was obviously foul play, but there were no immediate suspects. Nashville police announced they were trying to identify two men captured on the apartment complex surveillance video days before the murder. Those men were long gone.
Immediately after neutralizing their targets, Brian Brockway and Adam Carey returned the rental car, deleted the texting app and returned to Texas. Adam Carey dropped off Brian Brockway at the airport in Memphis and drove the rest of the way by himself. That same day, Eric Mon sent $150,000 to Gil Pallet and he would send more over the next several months, a total of $750,000.
And according to his Google Business review of Speartip security, Eric Mond was a satisfied customer. Quote, Speartip is very professional and on top of it, they get the job done in an expedited time. Couldn't imagine using anyone else. I'm kidding. Eric Mond posted that review using his real name on December 7th, 2020. By then he had gotten a divorce anyway. Gil Pallet had purchased a new boat.
A new life awaited for almost everybody. Nine months had passed since the murders and none of them had even been questioned. They'd gotten away with it. More than a few people in Tennessee assumed Bill Lanway did it. A jealous ex-boyfriend with violent tendencies ends it all. A tale as old as time. "I know people that did not go to Bill's funeral because they thought he was a murderer," a friend told the Tennessean. The detectives weren't as convinced. So, the investigation continued.
Federal investigators say a prominent Austin auto executive orchestrated a $1 million hit job. Federal investigators arrested Eric Maund, a car dealer from Austin, Texas, Gilad Pellid, who claimed to be a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces, as well as two former Special Operations Group Marines, Brian Brockway and Adam Carey. Investigators say Maund spent $1 million.
sent $750,000 to the others in order to kidnap and murder William Landway and Holly Williams. About a week after Eric Mond left that glowing Google business review of Speartip Security, federal agents surrounded his black Toyota SUV in San Marcos, Texas as he was coming home from a hunting trip with a buddy.
Eric Mond was arrested and ultimately charged with murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap resulting in death, and kidnapping resulting in death. Not all of the investigation details have been released but most assume Eric Mond was identified in Holly Williams' cell phone records. But Eric Mond was not physically present in Nashville at the time of the murders, nor was he one of the men in the surveillance video.
But ultimately, investigators traced the money, which Mond brazenly sent to Gil Pallet using his personal checking account. Gil Pallet led to Brian Brockway and Adam Carey. All three were arrested on the same day, on the same charges. On December 14th, 2022, Gilad Pallet pleaded guilty to murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap resulting in death, and kidnapping resulting in death. Each charge carries a potential life sentence. Pallet's sentencing is currently pending.
He's the only one that has entered a plea so far. The others, including Eric Mond, have had their trials delayed until 2024. Eric is currently in jail, held as a flight risk. Innocent until proven guilty, of course, but while behind bars, Eric has picked up an additional murder-for-hire charge.
apparently impressed by Speartip Security's Google Business reviews. After their arrests, Eric Mond offered Gil Pallet another $50,000 to connect him with Brian Brockway, who he would pay $100,000 to murder Adam Carey. Adam Carey had apparently asked Mond for more money after they were arrested. By now, everybody knows Eric Mond doesn't like being extorted.
Usually, a case this sensational would make national headline news, but not this one. It was terrible timing, washed out in the noise of an unfolding pandemic. Oddly enough, a few years earlier, a similar case in Austin was bumped from the front page after a series of random bombings terrorized the city. This story also involves love, betrayal, and a gaggle of fools. So many lives ruined in the blink of an eye, and for what? Money.
The answer to that question is almost always money. A local jewelry store owner is murdered in his home and a plot dripping with greed and stupidity on this episode of Swindled.
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Where do you want me to look? Straight? Kind of like in this direction. Okay. Chelsea, it's good if she looks at you now. Yeah. Everyone ready? All right. My name is Kristen Dark, K-R-I-S-T-E-N-D-A-R-K. I'm the Senior Public Information Officer for the Travis County Sheriff's Office. This morning, about 4:45 a.m., we received a 911 call from someone inside the residence here in the 9000 block of Oliver Drive.
The resident reported that someone had intruded in the home and that shots had been fired. We responded to the scene as quickly as possible. At this point in time, the evidence that we have right now does indicate that there was an intruder, that multiple shots were fired. We have a male in his 50s who is deceased. And at this point in time, we are obtaining a search warrant.
for the opportunity to go into the home and start our investigation with the crime lab. At this point in time, we do not have a suspect in custody. So we have every reason to believe that we do have a suspect at large who is armed. And we have good reason to believe that that suspect may be injured as well. So we expect that this person could have a gunshot wound.
Ted Shaughnessy knew something was wrong when he was awakened by his barking Rottweilers around 4 in the morning on Friday, March 2nd, 2018. Their neighborhood in Southwest Austin was usually as quiet as could be. Ted reached into his nightstand and grabbed his gun. He walked out of his bedroom, down the hallway, towards the kitchen, and was greeted with a hell of bullets and shot dead before he could even take aim.
Corey Shaughnessy, Ted's wife, was still in the bedroom. She had a gun of her own and started firing into the darkness until she ran out of bullets. Corey, uninjured, hid in a closet and waited, but no one ever came for her. When the coast was clear, she dialed 911. Travis County Sheriff deputies arrived to find Ted Shaughnessy lying in a pool of blood near the kitchen. A few feet away, more blood had collected. It belonged to one of the family's dogs who had also been killed.
There were bullet holes and casings everywhere. No signs of forced entry. The suspect or suspects had left the same way they had arrived, through a window in a bedroom on the other side of the very large house.
Nothing valuable was taken. A surprise, considering the man who was murdered owned and operated a jewelry store. But first tonight, we are learning more about the man killed in a home invasion a few days ago. He owned an Austin jewelry store. Friends of Theodore Shaughnessy say he was an owner at Gallery Jewelers on West 35th Street in Central Austin.
55-year-old Theodore "Ted" Shaughnessy had been in the jewelry business for almost 40 years. In the 1980s, he started working at a pawn shop in Arizona. He married the owner's daughter. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the Shaughnessys moved the family business to Texas in the early 90s and decided to specialize in jewelry in late '95.
Gallery Jewelers, located at 35th and Jefferson in Central Austin, strive to provide exquisite, unique, and rare jewelry, handpicked by Ted Shaughnessy himself. We don't have something for everyone, the Gallery Jewelers website read. We don't have trendy. We don't have it in all sizes. We don't have salespeople. We don't have pressure. We're not open on Sunday, or Monday, for that matter.
Ted Shaughnessy referred to himself as an old school jeweler, personalized service from a family business. That was the goal. Ted's wife, Corey, was gallery certified gemologist appraiser and manager behind the scenes. The couple's three beloved Rottweilers were also listed as staff. Outside of work, Ted Shaughnessy enjoyed his sports car, a black Porsche. It was a passion Ted shared with his only son,
Nicholas Shaughnessy loved telling the kids at school about his dad's cool car and his own. Nick won a go-kart racing competition as a nine-year-old. Nicholas Shaughnessy was 19 years old when he received a phone call at 5:44 in the morning from the Travis County Sheriff's Office telling him his father had been murdered. Nick lived in College Station, Texas with his girlfriend Jacqueline Edison who was enrolled at Texas A&M University. The couple immediately drove two hours to Austin.
When Nicholas and Jacqueline arrived, sheriff's deputies noticed a bit of weird energy. Both of them seemed completely calm. There were no tears, and Nicholas seemed very interested in the investigation. Obviously, it was his father, but this was different. He told detectives he had rode along with the cops in College Station, and he told them not to bother checking the surveillance footage at the nearest gas station because there were no exterior cameras in use, and he was right.
Nicholas Shaughnessy also insisted on sitting in on his mother's interview with detectives, and he agreed to let investigators search his cell phone. Jacqueline Edison reportedly started crying when she was told she would be tested for gun residue and that her car would be towed. Nicholas Shaughnessy seemed unfazed. News cameras captured him doing a little hopping 180 when detectives asked him to turn around so they could take photos of his hands.
Nothing was found. Nick's phone was returned. So was the car. The search for Ted Shaughnessy's killer continued. Most neighbors thought the murder must have been related to the jewelry business. Kind of weird that they had robbed Ted's house and not the store, though.
Maybe it was a random attack. Maybe Ted was just the first victim. There was anxiety in the city. That is, until a new fear took its place. I would hope that if this was a random crime, that the sheriff's department would be issuing some sort of warning or urgency about a possible suspect in the city.
The bombings started two hours after Ted Shaughnessy was killed. On March 2nd, 2018, at 6.55 a.m., 39-year-old Anthony Stefan House picked up a package left on the front porch of his home in northeast Austin. It exploded before he opened it.
Anthony Stefanhaus was pronounced dead at the hospital.
At the time, Austin police did not rule out terrorism but did not believe it to be the cause. "This seemed like a targeted attack," interim police chief Brian Manley told the media. Or perhaps, Stephon House accidentally triggered the device while constructing it himself.
Those questions would be put to bed 10 days later on the morning of March 12th, 2018 when 17-year-old Draylon Mason and his mother excitedly opened a package on their kitchen table that had been delivered overnight. Explosion in the house and people are injured in here. They opened a package and it exploded from outside. What part of the body? Hands, face. I don't know. I got blood all over my house. Okay.
The two people that are hurt, are they having any difficulty breathing? Yes, my grandson. Okay. Does he have difficulty speaking between breaths? Yeah, he's moaning because my grandson is not breathing. What part of him is hurt? I don't know because I can't go down the hallway. I'm scared I'll fall. There's blood everywhere.
Draylon Mason died from his injuries. A few hours later, just before noon, another bomb exploded in East Austin. 75-year-old Esperanza Herrera was severely injured but survived. They said there was a box? Yes, there was a box. They think it's like a bomb or something. I don't know. Okay. Okay. We've got a pattern of incidents that have occurred in this community over the past 10 days and so that we believe are related.
The bombings were linked because the devices were powered by foreign batteries that could only be ordered from Asia. Law enforcement kept these details close to their chests to avoid publicizing the progress of their investigation. The Austin bombers switched to a new method anyway. About a week later, on March 18th, 2018, two men in their 20s were injured by an exploding device while riding their bicycles at 9th and Southwest Austin.
Detectives found a tripwire strung across the sidewalk, connected to a bomb concealed by a red " Children at play" sign. This was clearly a more randomized attack. The first three appeared to be targeting a specific residence, resident address I should say, and whether they were targeting the person at that address or not, we know that they were placed on a specific doorstep at a specific home.
Two days later, a fifth bomb exploded on the conveyor belt at a FedEx sorting facility near San Antonio. A female employee was hurt. The package was addressed to an Austin address and shipped from a FedEx store in Austin. Previous packages had been delivered by the suspect. This was the first time one had been sent through the post.
A sixth bomb, held at the same time, was intercepted at a different FedEx facility before it could be delivered or detonated. The fully intact explosive device gave a massive boost to the investigation, but not as much as the surveillance footage from the FedEx store on Brody Lane, from which the packages had been shipped.
In the footage, a young white male wearing a green shirt, an apparent blonde wig, and pink construction gloves is seen shipping the two boxes using the alias Kelly Kilmore. The suspect's red 2002 Ford Ranger pickup truck was also captured on video, but the license plate had been removed. Still, it was a fatal mistake for the bomber.
Investigators examined vehicle registration records for every red 2002 Ford Ranger owner in Texas who matched the description. They also coordinated with local Home Depot stores to scour days worth of surveillance video to find the man who purchased those very particular pink gloves. There was a match. Receipts and cell phone data provided more evidence. On March 21, 2018, Austin PD closed in on the suspect to make an arrest.
Officers determined the alleged Austin bomber had been staying at a hotel in the suburb of Round Rock. When they arrived, the red Ford Ranger pickup was in the parking lot and a man was sitting in the driver's seat.
While police waited for reinforcements, the red pickup drove away from the hotel and headed south towards the city on the I-35 frontage road. Air to ground, he's on the move, backing out now. Coming up to 35 frontage, going to be taking a right turn southbound on 35 frontage.
Knowing that the truck likely carried explosive materials, the Austin SWAT team decided to ram their cars into it to prevent a suspect from entering the interstate. The red truck came to a stop. Two Austin police officers approached the vehicle with guns drawn. The bomb went off.
One of the police officers was blown back and suffered minor injuries. The other officer shot at the man in the pickup, even though the explosion had probably already killed him. As members of the Austin Police Department SWAT team approached the vehicle, the suspect detonated a bomb inside the vehicle, knocking one of our SWAT officers back, and one of our SWAT officers fired at the suspect as well.
The suspect is deceased and has significant injuries from a blast that occurred from detonating a bomb inside his vehicle. We cannot name the suspect at this time because he has not been positively identified yet by the medical examiner and next of kin have not yet been notified.
Mark Anthony Condit was a 23-year-old, extremely Christian, homeschooled, unemployed college dropout. In blog and social media posts, he identified as a conservative who was anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage, but also claimed he wasn't very politically engaged. The motive for Condit's string of bombings has never been determined, or at least it hasn't been fully revealed.
Just hours before his death, Mark Condit recorded a 28-minute voice memo, essentially confessing to the Reign of Terror that recording has never been released to the public. Interim Police Chief Brian Manley told the media that Condit, quote, "...doesn't mention anything about terrorism or anything about hate. It's an outcry of a challenged young man." Right.
However, Tony Plohetsky, at the Austin American-Statesman, spoke with a confidential source at the police department who had heard the recording and shared some details. "It's me again," Condon reportedly begins before describing himself as a lifelong psychopath. He did not reveal why certain victims were targeted, but he did describe in detail each bomb he had built, and then he expresses anger with himself for the misstep of walking into that FedEx store and ultimately revealing his identity.
Mark Condon knew the police were closing in on him. In the video he reportedly says if they got too close he would blow himself up inside of a crowded McDonald's with no remorse. Quote, I wish I were sorry, but I am not. Anyway,
Back to our regularly scheduled programming. It's a case that's gone unsolved, and it's been more than a month since a well-known business owner was shot and killed in his southwest Travis County home. Police say Ted Shaughnessy, a jeweler, was the victim of an apparent home invasion. A month had passed, and no arrest had been made in the Ted Shaughnessy murder. The investigation was ongoing, but detectives already knew exactly who was responsible.
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Ted and his wife used to come in when their son was real little. He would get into the racing with his son. Ted was pretty proud of Nick. He was pretty proud. Ted and Cory Shaughnessy adopted Nicholas from Russia in the spring of 2000 when he was 16 months old. Even as a kid, he had money on his mind.
According to the statesman, Nick sold candy bars out of his middle school locker. In high school, he owned and operated a car detailing business with four employees. Nick Shaughnessy told the high school newspaper that he wanted to trade stocks when he was older and "make money in my bathrobe at home." Jacqueline Edison moved to Austin, Texas from New Jersey to live with her father when she was a junior in high school.
Once quite popular in the Garden State, all of a sudden she was a nobody. Jacqueline gravitated toward Nick Shaughnessy and his generous family. Jacqueline's father could be pretty abusive, allegedly. She was always welcome to stay at the Shaughnessy home. It's also been reported that Jacqueline Edison had won an $850,000 settlement after a fall at an amusement park. That money sat in a trust she couldn't touch until she was older. Nick Shaughnessy liked that about her.
A month after graduating high school, Nick and Jacqueline secretly married before moving to College Station, Texas where Jackie could continue her education. The newlyweds never told their parents about the marriage. They were waiting for the right time. They'd missed their opportunity. Eight months later, Nick's dad was gone. After Ted Shaughnessy's murder, Nick and Jackie moved back to Austin to live with his mom and help her cope.
Like always, Corrie Shaughnessy welcomed her new daughter-in-law with open arms. When she found out about the marriage, Corrie gifted Jackie a diamond ring that belonged to Nick's grandmother. She didn't know any better. Unbeknownst to Corrie Shaughnessy, the Travis County Sheriff's Office investigation of her husband's murder had uncovered some startling revelations concerning their son and his wife.
Nicholas and Jacqueline were having some financial difficulties back in College Station. Nick, the son of Joelers, had sold a gold bracelet his grandparents had given him for $530. At one point, Jackie had texted screenshots of her bank accounts to her friends that showed the couple collectively held less than $4. And it's not like they hadn't received help. One of the Shaughnessy's neighbors in Austin loaned Nick $2,600, which he never paid back.
When the neighbor confronted Nick via text message, he ignored it for as long as he could, before finally telling her that he didn't owe an explanation and would repay it the next time he was in Austin, but wouldn't make a special trip. Nick Shaughnessy's parents also loaned him money, $30,000 to be exact.
The money was used as startup funds for Nick's day trading business. Corey Shaughnessy argued with Nick about the money a few days before Ted was murdered. When detectives asked Nick why he hadn't paid his parents back, he said the payments would have held him back and that quote, "Sometimes, greasy shit happens." After Ted Shaughnessy's murder, Nick and Jacqueline stopped paying the rent at their College Station apartment. He told the manager that his accounts were frozen because of the investigation, but that wasn't true.
Nick also told detectives that he hadn't been in Austin for two weeks before the murder. Another lie. Nick's cell phone had pinged a tower near his parents' house a few days before the murder. Almost as if he was going to kill his parents himself, but chickened out.
Investigators interviewed the young Shaughnessy's friends and discovered that Nick had been transparent in his desperation to collect a big payday. He joked with one about faking his own death and told him to look up how to start a Ponzi scheme. But neither of those ideas panned out. Investigators say Nick Shaughnessy resorted to what he referred to as "Plan B." Nick was the sole beneficiary of a $2 million insurance policy.
Nick estimated to friends that he would collect about $8 million total after selling the home and jewelry business if something were to happen to his parents. God forbid. One informant told the sheriff's office that Nick Shaughnessy offered him $10,000 a month to kill Ted and Corey Shaughnessy.
and an employee at the apartment complex where the couple lived, said Nick sent her a message on social media two weeks before the murder, asking if she wanted to make some extra cash. "How?" the girl responded. "Illegal activities," Nick replied. "Anything from strippers to murder." Nick Shaughnessy reportedly offered the apartment complex employee $20,000 a head and a $15,000 bonus. He included three skeleton emojis to show that he was serious.
The apartment lady stopped responding. This is Caleb Miller, one of Nick and Jackie's neighbors in College Station. He told me his father passed away, so I expressed my condolences. And something that I found a little odd is that he sent me the police report in Austin of what happened. He basically told me his father was murdered, so I felt incredibly awful for him, as a normal person would. Everyone grieves differently. It just didn't seem to faze him.
A search of Nicholas Shaughnessy and Jacqueline Edison's chat logs revealed conversations about the hit. On February 23, 2018, Nick texted Jackie, quote, "They won't budge." She responded, "Do they want 50k or not? We can't afford to pay half before." "We will see," Nick wrote back. Jackie responded, "I'm sure their casual jobs are around 10." "Working on it," Nick replied. "I'm not their only client, love."
Chat logs from January 30th revealed that Nicholas Shaughnessy tried to recruit a friend to do the deed. "Plastic gloves and ski mask," Nick told him. "No, no, no," the friend replied. "Fine. Fine. Just walk in, shoot a family, steal all their shit. No mask needed 'cause they'll be dead. Twenty for each and ten extra because fifty is a nice whole number," Nicholas offered. That friend refused the job but remained close.
so close that on March 3rd, 2018, the day after Ted Shaughnessy was murdered, according to KXAN, Nicholas asked that friend if he wanted to see photos of the crime scene and joked about being, quote, demoted from a person of interest since investigators had given back his phone. Soon after, Nick Shaughnessy's internet history was full of searches for expensive sports cars and accessories. He'd already applied for loans at local car dealerships.
Nicholas Shaughnessy's internet history also revealed that he remotely deactivated his parents' house alarm the night Ted was murdered. A remote login from the IP address of Nick and Jackie's apartment and college station not only deactivated the alarm, but also deleted surveillance videos immediately after the crime occurred.
And if that wasn't indisputable enough, detectives found an empty box of ammo in Nicholas' childhood bedroom that matched one of the types of shell casings found near Ted Shaughnessy's body, the same bedroom with the open window from which the shooter had entered and exited. The other type of ammo used in the murder was found at Nick and Jacqueline's home and college station. There was an entire box of it, but six bullets were missing.
By the end of 2018, investigators had everything they needed to solve the case, except for maybe a smoking gun and a diagram of the murder scene. An investigator says they found a torn up piece of paper in the trash can at the son and daughter-in-law's College Station apartment. When detectives pieced it back together, it appeared to be a hand-drawn diagram of the murder scene. Never mind, but they still did not know who pulled the trigger.
Investigators were confident it wasn't Nicholas. On April 27th, 2018, nearly two months after the murder, Gallery Jewelers announced on Facebook that it was back in business. "Good news," the post read. "Gallery Jewelers will remain open. We will be back to normal hours starting on Tuesday, May 1st. We are happy to announce that Nicholas, Ted's son, will be carrying on his legacy here at Gallery.
Thank you to all of our wonderful customers for being so patient. We look forward to seeing you.
Young couple schemes to kill the man's parents in hopes of getting a big payout and life insurance money. That's what police are saying happened to a prominent Austin jeweler in March. They say the two 19-year-olds hired someone to murder his parents. His father, Ted Shaughnessy, is killed. Tonight, they're both in the Travis County Jail. Court documents do not say who pulled the trigger, just that the son tried to hire three people to kill them over a period of months.
On May 29th, 2018, Nicholas Shaughnessy and Jacqueline Edison were arrested. They were both charged with criminal solicitation to commit capital murder, first-degree felonies. Nick's bond was set at $3 million. Jackie's was set at a million but later reduced to $250,000 for cooperating with the investigation. She eventually bonded out. Corrie Shaughnessy continued to support her son
A statement released by the family's lawyer stated, quote, We have been working with the Shaughnessy family over the last several months as they mourn the loss of Ted. These allegations are not consistent in any way with the young man we have come to know. Nick has been living with his mother since the tragedy occurred. Ms. Shaughnessy stands firmly behind her son. As a victim of the crime, Corey Shaughnessy was reportedly still not privy to all the details of the investigation. Maybe she was in denial. Can you blame her?
Ted's side of the family, however, had no hesitation in abandoning his adopted son. Ted's brother Tom Shaughnessy told KVUE, quote, He had an opportunity to be a Shaughnessy and be part of the family, and he pretty much ruined that. So, what do we care about him now? Ted's brother Tim told the Statesman, The kid was selfish and greedy. A spoiled, rotten kid who was given the best of everything. It was all just so disappointing.
Gallery jewelers closed again less than a month after reopening. Customers understood but were blindsided, especially those with jewelry stuck at the store. Two months later, a SWAT situation unfolded in College Station, Texas. I've never seen like a SWAT tanker. I checked, I was like, oh my gosh, what's going on? And I saw these little men jumping out and I was like...
What's happening? Like, what is happening? I've seen them at the pool a lot. I've seen the guy, he goes to the pool a lot. I thought he was a DJ or something because he's always on his laptop and his speaker outside. And I was like, oh, he's friendly. Like, I've always said hi to him. And in fact, at 1030 this morning, there was an arrest made in College Station.
The suspect arrested and charged with criminal solicitation of capital murder is Johnny Roman Leon, who is 21 years old and is a Hispanic male. Our investigation revealed that Mr. Leon was involved with Nicholas Shaughnessy in the planning and the execution of the incident that occurred on March the 2nd of 2018.
When Theodore Shaughnessy was murdered. A confidential informant had tipped off investigators about 21-year-old Johnny Leon. When questioned, Leon denied killing Ted Shaughnessy, but admitted that he had traveled to Austin with Nick on February 28th. Nick told him he was going to do it himself, but couldn't get into the house. So they drove back that night, and Johnny Leon said he hadn't been back to Austin since. He told investigators he was asleep with his girlfriend the night it occurred.
However, Johnny Leon's cell phone was active in Austin on the night of the murder. He was charged with criminal solicitation of capital murder, just like Nick and Jackie. A grand jury later indicted all three for capital murder. The Travis County Sheriff's Office felt confident that Johnny Leon was their gunman. We do feel very confident this is a big thief. This is a gunman, this is a hitman. This is definitely...
"We do think this is the shooter," Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kristen Dark told reporters. But there is the possibility that there was a second shooter. As part of the investigation, detectives had found communication about the murders between Johnny Leon and another 21-year-old named Arianne Smith. Arianne's phone number had also been in contact with Nicholas Shaughnessy. Smith told investigators that Johnny Leon offered him $200 up front and $5,000 a month to help murder the Shaughnessys.
Arion said he refused to participate and that on the night of the murder, he and a friend were staying at a hotel in College Station. He said that his friend let Johnny Leon borrow his car. "Then how did your DNA and your cell phone make their way to Austin that night?" detectives asked. Arion Smith reportedly became visibly upset during the interview and started to cry.
Smith told them he'd left his phone in the car and that Leon was borrowing one of his shirts. A son accused in a plot to have his parents murdered, today, more than nine months after the murder, a fourth person joins the list of suspects involved in what authorities call a murder for hire. On December 6th, 2018, Arian Smith was charged with capital murder. He, along with Nicholas Shaughnessy, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder on April 7th, 2021.
They were both sentenced to 35 years in prison. Ted Shaughnessy's family submitted an allocution statement directed at Nick, which was read aloud during the hearing by a court employee. Part of it reads, quote, A selfish and heinous act of cruelty.
Ted was a vibrant, compassionate, respected individual that had his life taken from him because of your greed. The people that you selected to assist you have ruined their lives and their families' lives as well. And for what? A payment for a heinous act of cruelty? A payment that was never made? It would be our hope that you are never released from prison. We understand this plea but are not happy about it.
Hopefully you will spend the next 35 years thinking about how you have changed our world and yours. And we hope that every day is a nightmare for you. As you think about the life that you had and the life that you could have had if you hadn't made the decision to end your father's life. It is so hard to understand that money could make you decide to do such a thing.
What you have done is unforgivable in our eyes. None of you will ever serve enough time for our family. What you have done has changed so many people's lives, including your own. You will be middle-aged when you get out, and you won't have many opportunities afforded to you, and that is the way it should be. None of you deserve any kind of normal life. Our lives are no longer normal, and you shall have the same fate. And we hope that every day is a nightmare for you.
As you think about the life that you had and the life that you could have had if you hadn't made the decision to end your father's life. Corey Shaughnessy felt differently. In her statement, she asked the judge to be lenient on her son. Corey had concluded that Nick was guilty and she realized he must be punished, but she still wanted him to have the opportunity at a life on the other side. Part of Corey's statement reads, quote,
Nicholas and Jackie were with me when I went back to the house late in the afternoon on the day of Ted's murder. They saw the pool of Ted's blood where he had laid as he died, the broken glass, splintered wood, and bullet holes. They went with me to pick up his ashes. They lived with me in our home, minus Ted. They ate the food that I bought and cooked for them. They wore the clothes and the shoes that I bought for them. 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. They had even planned their wedding. The first few days after the murder they told me that they had secretly married. I gave Nicholas and Jackie my mother's diamond ring for her engagement ring.
Jackie was planning the engagement party she hadn't had, and her mother flew in for Mother's Day to celebrate. While existing in despair and grief, I had just a few weeks to think that there was to be a new happiness in my life. My son and my daughter-in-law wanted to be remarried in front of friends and family, and they were going to continue our life's work. And then, they were arrested, and my destruction was complete.
For almost two and a half years I didn't know any more than anyone else. The legal procedures precluded me from getting the facts that I needed to cut my thin string of hope. I was a victim. I was the mother. I was the wife of the victim. I was a witness. But I was not allowed to know. I finally learned enough to realize that all four deserve punishment. It is with this consideration for the young ages at the time of this horrific murder. But I accept the punishment that has been given to my son Nicholas and Arian Smith.
Johnny Leon pleaded guilty on April 14th, 2021.
He was also sentenced to 35 years in prison. As for Jacqueline Edison, her hearing was delayed. While out on bond, she used her time wisely by filing for divorce from Nicholas and enrolling at the University of Texas Dallas as a student of mechanical engineering. In the summer of 2020, Jackie started working for a Volkswagen dealership. Jacqueline Edison pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit capital murder on June 20th, 2023.
Corey Shaughnessy's attorney, Steve Britton, was baffled by the lenient sentence, telling KXAN, quote,
This was plotted, planned,
This time, Corey Shaughnessy spoke in court.
"Do you remember your 19th birthday?" she asked Jackie. "I took you out for lunch and a day of shopping in Nordstrom. Your husband Nicholas surprised you with the coach purse that you had wanted, and I gave you a half-carat diamond solitaire pendant as 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. Today is my birthday. I don't have much to celebrate anymore, but I'm still alive.
I'm alive because your plan, together with your husband, to have me murdered alongside your father-in-law didn't succeed. Don't get me wrong, there are many, many days that I wish you had succeeded and that I had died. I can't look at photos of your husband, my son, or you, my daughter-in-law, without wondering exactly when you began to plan our deaths. 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.
I guess after you and Nick shared all those Sunday dinners with me, Ted, Nick's grandparents, uncle, and our family friends, you'd go out and plot some more to kill us. 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 Nicholas to have him killed. We opened our home and our hearts to you, and you and Nicholas took everything from us.
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. While Jacqueline Edison gets to move on with her life, Nicholas Shaughnessy is trying to find his next Bonnie while behind bars. He has a profile on friendsbeyondthewall.com where inmates post personal ads to attract pen pals.
I've made some major mistakes and have had some big setbacks, Nick's profile reads. But I learn from every experience and work every day to be the best version of myself. Time does not stop and we cannot get back yesterday. So I choose to make the most out of today so hopefully I can live a better tomorrow. Sentenced to 35 years for murder, I don't have time to waste. I'm determined to make the most out of my time so I can be a productive and successful member of society when I come home.
I am seeking a connection of the opposite gender to pass time with. I've been gone since 2018 and miscommunicating with women. I'm looking for a genuine friendship, someone I can talk to and learn from. I'm not the best at writing intros, but if this has sparked your curiosity, please don't hesitate to reach out. If you could tell me about yourself and include a photo, that would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to getting to know you.
Nicholas Shaughnessy's expected release date is in November 2035. So, now with all the murder-for-hires, serial bombings, and rock-throwing cases behind them, the city of Austin can finally relax. Or can it? I wouldn't leave that drink unattended if I were you. In the last two months, four bodies were found in Lady Bird Lake near Rainy Street.
30-year-old Jason John's body was found on February 13th. The body of 40-year-old Clifton Axtell was found on March 5th. 33-year-old Jonathan Honey found on April 1st. And most recently, 30-year-old John Christopher Hayes Clark found on April 15th.
Our initial information doesn't show anything suspicious. But despite police repeatedly saying no foul play is suspected, rumors continue to swirl of a potential serial killer in Austin. One media report even calling it the Rainy Street Ripper. Swindled is written, researched, produced, and hosted by me, a concerned citizen, with original music by Trevor Howard, a.k.a. Deformer, a.k.a. the Rainy Street Ripper. Just kidding.
For more information about Swindled, you can visit swindledpodcast.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok at Swindled Podcast. Or you can send us a postcard at PO Box 6044, Austin, Texas 78762. But please no packages. We do not trust you.
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Thanks for listening. My name is Haley from Tampa, Florida. My name is Georgia from Melbourne, Australia. Hi, my name is Claire from Austin, Texas. And I'm a concerned citizen and a valued listener. Love you. Oh, you're still here? Are there any children around? Okay, good. Because I have an after dark promotional offer just for you.
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