Jurors see photos of Wis. scene where girls died
HUDSON, Wis. (AP) -- Jurors at the insanity trial of a man who admitted killing his three young daughters viewed graphic photos Friday of the Wisconsin scene where the children's bodies were found. Testifying for the prosecution in Aaron Schaffhausen's trial, forensic image specialist Larry Ventura showed images of the girls' bodies, their bedrooms and pools of blood on the carpet.
Schaffhausen didn't look at any of the photos as they were shown in court, KSTP-TV reported.
Anna Sorenson with the Wisconsin State Crime Lab testified about the murder scene she saw and the condition of the girls. Police found the girls -- 11-year-old Amara, 8-year-old Sophie and 5-year-old Cecilia -- dead in their beds in their River Falls home. The girls' throats had been slashed.
Also testifying was Stan Winkler with Amtrak, who spoke about Schaffhausen's purchase of train tickets around the day of the killings last summer.
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Winkler said Schaffhausen bought a one-way return ticket from St. Paul, Minn., to Minot, N.D., at 6:37 p.m. Monday, July 9, 2012. He said the ticket was for a train that would have left St. Paul at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, July 10, which was the day of the killings.
Schaffhausen, 35, who was living in Minot, turned himself in to police after the killings.
The prosecution contends Schaffhausen killed his daughters to get revenge on his ex-wife. The defense maintains Schaffhausen was legally insane at the time of the killings. Schaffhausen declined to testify in his own defense.
The prosecution expects to rest its case Monday after calling its psychiatric expert, and the judge said the case could go to the jury Tuesday afternoon.
The defense's mental health expert testified earlier this week that Schaffhausen was insane, while a court-appointed independent expert testified he did not meet the legal definition of insanity.
