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Appeals court upholds conviction of man in daughters’ death

By: Associated Press//July 14, 2015//

Appeals court upholds conviction of man in daughters’ death

By: Associated Press//July 14, 2015//

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Construction worker Aaron Schaffhausen, who killed his three daughters last year in an act of revenge against his ex-wife, is led from a St. Croix County Courtroom after being sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison on July 15 in Hudson. The Schaffhausen home was auctioned off Tuesday, but no one bid. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores)
Aaron Schaffhausen, who killed his three daughters in an act of revenge against his ex-wife, is led from a St. Croix County Courtroom in August 2013. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An appeals court says a construction worker who killed his young daughters to hurt his ex-wife was properly convicted.

Prosecutors charged Aaron Schaffhausen with killing his three girls at their River Falls home in 2012. He pleaded guilty but maintained he was insane. A jury determined, however, that he didn’t lack the capacity to understand his conduct was wrong.

Schaffhausen argued the trial judge wrongly told jurors to decide who qualified as expert witnesses and failed to provide expert witnesses’ reports to the jury.

The District 3 Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that letting jurors decide who was an expert was harmless and Schaffhausen didn’t identify anything in the reports that wasn’t presented to the jury in court.

Schaffhausen’s attorney says he’ll ask the state Supreme Court to hear the case.

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