When two people enter into a commitment of marriage and bring children into the world, it may be difficult to see how the situation might ever become angry or violent. Few married couples start their marriage with plans to divorce or hurt each other, but the reality is often different than the fantasy, and close to 50% of couples end up filing for divorce. Domestic violence continues to be a common problem in Wisconsin and throughout the world, and some spouses are coming up with more creative and particularly vicious ways to hurt the one they feel has wronged them.
A Wisconsin dad claims mental illness affected his decision making the night he murdered his three daughters while his ex-wife was away from the home. A jury did not believe the man was mentally ill, and he was recently sentenced to serve three life sentences for his actions in an effort by a judge to show that each child was important.
According to prosecutors, the father killed his daughters in an effort to hurt his ex-wife, and had made violent and disturbing threats against her and her new boyfriend before the incident. The man’s parents claim he is mentally ill, and that everyone involved shares the responsibility for not getting him help when he needed it.
The violent death of a child may be particularly devastating for a judge and jury to hear about, but the man’s attorney feels strongly that his mental illness should have been a factor in his trial, and that the situation is a losing one for all involved.
Source: Source: Huffington Post, “Aaron Schaffhausen, Wisconsin dad, will be sentenced for killing 3 daughters,” Amy Forliti, July 15, 2013