AUSTIN — It was a crime that rocked Austin: A well-known jeweler shot to death in his home and his wife escapes a hail of gunfire.
For months, neighbors and friends of Ted and Corey Shaughnessy thought that the home invasion had to be linked to his business.
Then they found out that their only child, a 19-year-old son they adopted from Russia as a toddler, was being charged with plotting their deaths.
“He had an opportunity to be a Shaughnessy and be part of the family, and he pretty much ruined that," said Tom Shaughnessy, Ted Shaughnessy's brother. "So what do we care about him now?”
Over the past six months, interviews with more than a dozen people who knew the family or who are connected to the case helped paint a picture of what appeared to be a picture-perfect husband, wife and son.
Ted Shaughnessy's brother and sister-in-law describe him as a giving business owner, who would buy groceries for someone else in the supermarket line.
But those who know their son, Nicolas Shaughnessy, say he also had a fascination with money.
"He would constantly be trying to mention his money all the time," said Tyler Scott, a classmate at Austin High School. "He would say, 'I made some good investments, my numbers are up.' A lot of it went over my head honestly."
The school newspaper profiled him in February 2017 in an article in which Nicolas Shaughnessy talked about wanting to "make money in my bathrobe at home."
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On the morning of March 2, an intruder entered the Shaughnessy's home off U.S. 290.
Court records say Ted Shaughnessy grabbed his gun from a nightstand and tried to defend himself before he was killed.
Corey Shaughnessy fired back at the gunman but retreated to a closet when she ran out of ammunition.
Over the next several months, investigators built a case against Nick Shaughnessy, saying he arranged their murders in order to gain up to $8 million in life insurance.
A Travis County grand jury has indicted Nick Shaughnessy on a capital murder charge. His wife, who he secretly married in the months before the crime, also has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Several weeks after their arrests, deputies also arrested and charged 21-year-old Johnny Leon with conspiracy. He was indicted on a capital murder charge on Wednesday, July 11.
Those who know the couple say they remain shocked by the crime, six months later.
"Ted was the perfect father that you could ever find for an adopted child that came from another country," said Bruce Ballard, a family friend who knew Ted Shaughnessy through a shared love of Porsches. "They would do anything for him."