Austin Man And Shooter He Hired To Kill His Father Plead Guilty

Austin TX

08 April, 2021

10:45 AM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — An Austin man and one of the shooters he hired to kill his father pleaded guilty to murder and were each sentenced to 35 years in prison for their roles in the 2018 death of an Austin jewelry store owner. Nicolas Shaughnessy, 22, and Arieon Smith pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Theodore Shaughnessy as part of a plea agreement Wednesday, the Travis County District Attorney's Office announced. The younger Shaughnessy was originally charged with capital murder in a murder-for-hire plot against his father, Theodore Shaughnessy, 55, in 2018. The elder man owned Gallerie Jewelers in Austin, according to KXAN. Both Smith and Shaughnessy were sentenced to 35 years in prison. Both men will not be eligible for parole for almost 20 years, when Smith is 40 and Shaughnessy is 41, the district attorney's office said. Nicolas Shaughnessy's wife, Jaclyn Edison, was charged with solicitation to commit capital murder. She bonded out of jail shortly after her arrest in 2018. Her next court hearing is set for June, but she is not expected to appear. A third man, Johnny Roman Leon III, 21, faces a charge of criminal solicitation of capital murder, according to the Travis County Sheriff's Office. Leon's next court appearance is April 14, according to Shaughnessy's attorney. Police found the bullet-ridden body of Theodore Shaughnessy on March 2, 2018, in a house on the 9000 block of Oliver Drive after receiving a report of an intruder at the house and multiple shots being fired, police said, Patch reported in 2018. Nicolas was the sole beneficiary of $2 million in the event of his parents' death, according to a search warrant. Nicolas, then 19 and living in College Station, was having financial troubles and owed his mother $30,000, according to court documents. "Our office takes violent crimes like this one, that make our community less safe, very seriously," said Travis County District Attorney José Garza. "My deepest sympathies go out to the family of Theodore Shaughnessy for their loss."