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How NOT to Hire a Hitman - Season 1 - Episode 08: Surveillance Feeds
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00:09a hidden marriage certificate that's not the kind of thing you forget to mention to your family
00:17an open-ended job offer when she asked him what he meant he said illegal activities
00:24anything from strippers to murders and a hitman who forgets to follow his own advice
00:33it's a familiar story unfortunately he missed the part about actually leaving his phone at home
00:49ted and cory shaughnessy are a wealthy couple based in travis county just outside austin texas
01:01they're a loving pair with a strong bond
01:07ted and cory met at an arcade in phoenix arizona in the late 1980s and they quickly fell in love
01:16they discovered that they both had an entrepreneurial spirit and so they decided
01:21to start a family business their first venture was a pawn shop where they learned to turn
01:28other people's castoffs into someone else's treasures
01:37the couple relocate to texas in 1990 to start a new life together
01:45if you're going to work every day with your spouse you better be able to get along
01:51and it helps if you have something in common for ted and corey it's a love of fine jewelry
02:00in 1995 they turned their shared passion into a new business venture opening gallery jewelers in north
02:08central austin ted is an expert at helping people find just the right piece to commemorate a special time
02:16in their lives and with the two of them working together the shaughnessy's business grows quickly
02:26in 2000 their family also grows
02:30in the summer of 2000 ted and corey complete their family by adopting a toddler from a russian orphanage
02:38they name him nicholas it's not uncommon for young boys to emulate their fathers
02:46and nick grows up sharing ted's passion for fast cars and go-karts
02:55by high school nick also shares his parents entrepreneurial spirit growing up with wealthy
03:02parents nick knows at a young age that he wants to be rich he starts his first business in middle
03:09school selling candy out of his locker as a teenager nick starts a car detailing business that
03:17grows big enough that he can employ three other kids and then he sells the client list for a profit
03:25as parents ted and corey are proud of their son's determination and drive he's got a bright future
03:33ahead which is what every parent wants for their child
03:41eventually nick settles on stock trading as his key to success
03:46in his senior year in high school the student newspaper writes a profile on nick
03:51it talks about his strategy on striking a rich in the stock market maximum gain for minimum effort
03:59and with his parents support nick is ready to take the world by storm
04:05nick's girlfriend jackie edison is all in on his big plans
04:11nick met jackie when she transferred to austin from new jersey in her sophomore year after her parents divorce
04:20she initially lived with her father but that just didn't work out ted and corey opened their home
04:27to jackie and by senior year she's living with the shaughnessies it's like she's part of the family
04:38it's definitely unconventional to allow your teenage son's girlfriend to move into your house
04:44but ted and corey have big hearts and they can see that jackie just needs some support
04:54after graduation nick and jackie move out to start their life together
05:00in august of 2017 just after high school graduation nick and jackie moved to a house in college station
05:09which is about a hundred miles east of austin they're young they're in love and they're determined
05:17to be successful just like nick's parents jackie attends classes at texas a m university
05:25while nick starts a day trading business with thirty thousand dollars that he borrows from his mother
05:32wheeling and dealing is nick's strong suit so working from home and trading stocks
05:38is a dream come true he's living his best life making money for himself and his investors
05:51in january 2018 the shaughnessy's celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary
05:59becoming empty nesters is a big change for ted and corey especially since the kids live two hours
06:05away so they don't get to see them that often but ted and corey happily embrace this next phase of
06:13life
06:14they've worked hard during their 30 years together and they have a lot to celebrate
06:21in the more than two decades since ted and corey started gallery jewelers
06:25it's become a staple of the community making them millionaires several times over
06:31business is good and nick and jackie's future is bright it's a dream for the family
06:38but being wealthy jewelry store owners does come with risks
06:44ted and corey know they might be targets so they have extensive security measures at their home
06:50cameras alarms even firearms they also have a deadbolt system where a key is needed to unlock their doors
07:00from the inside
07:03but no system is foolproof
07:08on march 2nd the shaughnessy's are faced with their worst nightmare
07:14at 4 27 a.m a window is opened on the other side of the house
07:20from where corey and ted are sleeping
07:23the shaughnessy's dogs start barking and that wakes ted up
07:32so he grabs his handgun from the nightstand and he starts to investigate
07:41less than a minute later
07:44corey is startled awake by the sound of gunfire coming from the kitchen
07:49in home invasions those first few seconds are critical fight or flight kicks in
07:58training helps but instinct takes over
08:03corey grabs the revolver that she keeps near her bedside for protection
08:09just as she sees a shadowy figure in the doorway
08:17a violent exchange of gunfire erupts
08:22corey fires at the intruder until the gun runs out of bullets
08:27then she grabs her phone and runs
08:32she makes her way to the closet where she calls 9-1-1 and says there were shots fired help
08:38me
08:41corey did everything right she took cover she called for help but there's only so much a person
08:47can do in that situation as corey hides
08:53she has no idea what awaits her on the other side of that closet door
09:06ted and corey shaughnessy spend decades building their american dream one gemstone at a time
09:15operating a successful jewelry business outside austin texas
09:21their son nick follows in their footsteps
09:25starting several businesses of his own
09:29before settling on day trading while his girlfriend jackie attends college
09:38less than two months after celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary
09:43ted and corey are awakened by an intruder in their home in the middle of the night
09:50the shaughnessy's dogs start barking and that wakes ted up
09:56so he grabs his handgun from the nightstand and he starts to investigate
10:03corey did everything right she took cover she called for help
10:09emergency responders are dispatched to the shaughnessy home
10:14corey stays hidden in the closet until the 911 dispatcher tells her to go open the door for
10:20the first responders
10:32lying on the kitchen floor ted is pronounced dead at 5 14 a.m
10:43and one of the family dogs has also been shot
10:47and one of the family dogs has also been shot
10:52outside corey is beyond shaken
10:56at 5 44 a.m corey calls nick and tells him about the home invasion
11:03she also tells him that his father has been murdered
11:08in this situation when you have a traumatized victim you don't want to further traumatize them
11:15but it's vital to get as much information as possible as quickly as you can
11:20you want to capture their story and get the details of exactly what happened
11:25while the events are still fresh in the victim's mind
11:28because multiple factors can affect people's memories
11:34and with a violent offender on the loose you need to track them down before they can strike again
11:40so every piece of information you can gather is potentially useful
11:48at 8 a.m nick and jackie arrive after driving the two hours from their home in college station
12:00so everyone is shocked about what has happened
12:04it's wild that you can go to bed fine and by morning everything is upside down
12:14being surrounded by family is often the only way someone can get through a tragedy like this
12:22nick in particular is very protective of his mother
12:26and wants to stick close to her through all her interactions with police
12:33nick explains that after he received the phone call about his father's death
12:37he and jackie rush to the scene after answering questions from the detective
12:45nick agrees to hand over his cell phone
12:49investigators continue to be thorough
12:53photographing nick and jackie's clothing and hands
12:58and testing them for gunshot residue
13:03it's early in the investigation you don't know who's going to become a suspect
13:07who's going to become a person of interest who's going to become a witness
13:11so everyone needs to be included or excluded in the investigation
13:16you don't want them becoming alternate suspects down the road in court
13:26a violent home invasion is unusual for affluent travis county
13:31so media descend on the scene
13:36with a gunman on the loose the travis county sheriff's office addresses the ongoing danger
13:42to the public at this point in time we do not have a suspect in custody so we have every
13:48reason
13:48to believe that we do have a suspect at large who is armed and we have good reason to believe
13:53that that suspect may be injured as well
13:57so we expect that this person could have a gunshot wound but it's very very important right now
14:02to get the word out that we have a suspect who is not in custody so if anybody knows something
14:08about
14:08what may have happened here we need to hear from you
14:19once investigators enter the house they find the aftermath of a chaotic scene
14:26the kitchen where ted's body is found is riddled with bullets there is damage everywhere
14:37ted's gun is found lying next to his body with a full magazine
14:41it looks like he didn't fire a single shot but there are multiple shell casings from two different weapons
14:48a 380 caliber and a 40 caliber indicating there may have been two intruders involved in the attack
14:57the damage carries on into the bedroom in the bedroom investigators find evidence that corroborates
15:05cory's story of a chaotic exchange of gunfire
15:14there are bullet holes in the walls and the furniture
15:19and broken glass next to cory's side of the bed nothing in the house appears to be stolen and there
15:27are no
15:27signs of forced entry all indications point to a home invasion
15:35what's not known is whether it was a robbery gone wrong or a targeted attack
15:47as police continue to search the house they find a bedroom on the opposite side of the house from
15:55where ted and cory sleep that has an open window the screen has been propped up on the outside of
16:03the house
16:04the open window appears to be how the intruders got in and out of the house
16:11outside nick tells the detective that the room with the open window is his old bedroom
16:22he regularly used that window like a door to get in and out of the house easily in fact
16:28he and his friend spencer just used that window a month ago when they last visited nick's parents
16:36nick's explanation is odd but it provides an important clue investigators now have a name
16:43someone who knows the shaughnessy's knows the house and knows how to get in and out undetected
16:51now the detective wants to talk to spencer
16:56spencer is an old friend of nick and jackie's from high school he confirms that yes he has gone
17:04in and out of nick's bedroom window in the past but he definitely didn't do it the last time he
17:10visited
17:10the house the way nick described it's a very unusual inconsistency why be so specific about a detail
17:21that doesn't line up it's something that investigators will want to take note of
17:28there's a thread here that needs to be pulled
17:33when police search the inside of the bedroom
17:38they find an empty box for a 40 caliber handgun
17:42matching the casings that were found next to ted's body in the kitchen
17:47the idea that ted could have been killed with one of his own guns
17:51just adds even more to a tragic situation
17:57crime scene technicians spend the entire day meticulously documenting every detail from the shaughnessy's home
18:07while the family members all agree to be questioned at the police station
18:16nick jackie and corey all agree to give formal statements they want to do anything to help find the shooters
18:27but when police bring corey in several more times for additional questioning
18:33she's had enough cooperation does have its limits
18:41where a person is killed at home in the middle of the night with another family member present who survives
18:48investigators need to take extra care to exclude that surviving family member from having been involved in the murder
18:57it doesn't mean that corey is considered a suspect or that she had anything to do with her husband's death
19:06but as the investigation gets underway signs begin to point to an inside job
19:12the shaughnessy's have a large house that's locked up like fort knox
19:17navigating it at night in the dark when you don't know the layout is a hard task
19:23and the doors are all locked from the inside meaning the shooters had to know the open bedroom window was
19:30their only way out
19:34when investigators look into the shaughnessy's home security system
19:40what's not there is as telling as what is
19:45the system had been accessed remotely during the night and the security camera footage had been erased
20:04in the middle of the night in the middle of the night
20:05beloved local business owners ted and corey shaughnessy run gallery jewelers in austin texas
20:12building up a successful business over decades
20:17on march 2nd 2018 the couple are attacked in their home in the middle of the night
20:26in a case that grips the public
20:31we have learned the name of the man killed in an apparent home invasion in southwest travis county
20:35yesterday he's 55 year old theodore shaughnessy killed by gunshot wounds now the travis county
20:41sheriff's office tells us they are working on the possibility that the shooter knew the victim
20:45but they still want people living in that area of 290 to be cautious because the suspect or suspects
20:50is likely armed and dangerous
20:56within days investigators learned that the security system at the shaughnessy house
21:02was disabled on the night of the murder
21:10and ted corey and nick are the only ones who have access
21:16police discover that the security system was accessed remotely three times on the night of the murder
21:24the first time just after midnight and the last time between 5 39 and 5 54 a.m
21:36the timing of the last login was after ted was shocked
21:43and after corey's phone was in police custody
21:48so the only person who could have accessed the security system
21:54was nick
21:59investigators trace the ip address of the remote login
22:04to nick and jackie's home in college station the fact that nick can be connected to the remote
22:11security system login tells police that they're dealing with a targeted attack
22:16rather than a random break-in but it also indicates that nick was home at the time of the shooting
22:23meaning they might be looking at a murder for hire
22:31on march 5th three days after his parents were attacked police visit the housing complex in
22:38college station where nick and jackie live
22:43police canvas the neighbors and speak to a woman who has a somewhat different view of nick
22:49the golden boy persona he presents the woman tells detectives that nick had contacted her on social
22:57media a few weeks before and asked if she wanted to make any extra cash when she asked him what
23:06he meant
23:06he said illegal activities anything from strippers to murders he offered to pay her 20 grand ahead
23:15with a 15 grand incentive
23:19as job offers go it's strange when he messaged her three skeleton emojis she made the good choice
23:27to stop responding to him all together
23:35police obtain a search warrant for nick and jackie's home
23:42investigators know that nick was involved in the attack on his parents possibly jackie was too
23:48so they're looking for anything that might tie nick and jackie to the crime
23:57they find a box of the same 380 caliber ammunition that was found in the kitchen near ted's body
24:06with several bullets missing from the box
24:11on nick's computer they find a text message exchange between nick and his girlfriend a few days before
24:18the murder where they appear to be hiring somebody for a job in the text jackie says do they want
24:2650k
24:27and complains we can't afford to pay half up front nick reassures her he's working on it
24:35it's all subjective evidence there's no smoking gun but it definitely seems that nick and his girlfriend
24:41have been up to something
24:45in the search police also find evidence that jackie is not nick's girlfriend after all
24:52police find a marriage certificate it turns out that nick and jackie got hitched eight months earlier
24:59right after high school that's not the kind of thing you forget to mention to your family
25:08these two have definitely been keeping secrets for a while the marriage certificate indicates that
25:16it was nick's buddy spencer who officiated the ceremony so now police want to talk to spencer again
25:27police pay a visit to spencer who admits to more than just secret weddings
25:35spencer tells the detective that nick's been obsessed with insurance
25:40more specifically about faking his own death to collect the insurance money
25:46he's also mentioned his parents life insurance and as the beneficiary he'd get two million dollars
25:54in the event of their deaths spencer admits that since the murder nick had been calling him repeatedly
26:03wanting to know what spencer told the police and what the police had been asking him
26:08when a suspect is so concerned with finding out what authorities know and don't know it usually means they're worried
26:17authorities conduct a search of spencer's phone
26:23where they find a treasure trove of inappropriate conversations
26:29investigators find a text from the previous summer where nick is complaining about needing more cash
26:37when spencer asks nick if he has any suggestions nick says plastic gloves ski masks and just walk in
26:45shoot a family steal all their stuff it's very helpful when criminals write their plans down
26:52but it's not quite enough to bring nick in yet
27:01in the aftermath of the murder
27:05nick and jackie move back in with cory police are certain that nick and jackie are involved in the
27:14attack and that the plan was for both parents to die so that they could cash out on their life
27:20insurance policy they just don't have enough evidence to prove it
27:29and that's why they can't do it but all that changes when not one but two confidential informants
27:36agree to go on the record
27:50in march 2018 a mysteriously open window at the shaughnessy house outside austin texas leaves ted dead
28:01and cory fleeing for her life secret newlyweds nick and jackie seem to know more about the attack
28:12than they're letting on and a search of their home reveals they've been trying to make an expensive
28:20hire police are certain that nick and jackie are involved in the attack
28:26and that the plan was for both parents to die so that they could cash out on their life insurance
28:32policy they just don't have enough evidence to prove it
28:41that changes on may 29th when nick's friend spencer agrees to go on the record
28:51spencer confesses that nick's goal wasn't just the two million dollar life insurance policy
28:59throw in his parents business and the house nick was looking at an eight million dollar payday
29:07and he admits that back in january nick had offered him a piece of it
29:16spencer spencer tells investigators that nick had offered him fifty thousand dollars to carry out the
29:21murders himself twenty thousand dollars for each parent and an extra ten thousand dollars because
29:29fifty is a nice whole number
29:33that kind of callousness is more than a little shocking to anyone
29:37and spencer had the good sense to refuse his friend's offer
29:46but spencer offers the authorities more than just nick
29:51he ties jackie to the plot as well
29:55spencer described the time before the murder that nick was once again running his mouth about financial
30:01gain and that if that didn't pan out he had a plan b when jackie heard what they were talking
30:10about
30:10she was shocked not because she didn't know there was a plan but because she didn't know that spencer knew
30:18there was a plan
30:21the wider the circle gets the more likely someone's going to talk
30:28armed with the details from spencer
30:32authorities have enough to arrest both nick and jackie on a charge of solicitation to commit capital murder
30:41and while nick maintains his innocence after two weeks jackie starts talking
30:50jackie admits that nick's day trading business isn't going as well as she and nick had led authorities to believe
30:57when they were first questioned by police after the murder
31:04nick had borrowed thirty thousand dollars from corey
31:08and more from other investors to fund his trading and people were starting to call in those loans
31:17nick even had an argument with his mother about the money he owed her the week before the murder
31:25apparently nick's get rich quick scheme wasn't cutting it he gave it the old college try and then moved on
31:33to plan b
31:37jackie tells police that two days before the murder nick disabled his parents security system
31:46and then drove from college station to austin to do the deed himself
31:53but he didn't go through with it police are able to verify that nick's phone did travel from college
32:01station to austin and back on the night of february 28th it's very easy for law enforcement personnel
32:08to confirm a phones and by extension of person's location at any given time and it's remarkable how
32:15often people forget that so much for not having been to austin for over a month prior to the murder
32:22which is what he told detectives when he was questioned on june 15th jackie strikes a deal to secure her
32:31release law enforcement sources tell me that jacqueline edison has begun cooperating with the investigation
32:37and has provided what they are calling valuable clues in this case prosecutors have agreed to reduce her
32:45bond from 1 million dollars to 250 000 as long as she wears an ankle monitoring bracelet and surrenders
32:54her passport among several other conditions investigators are still trying to find who opened fire
33:00on ted shaughnessy in his home in march they hope this new information could help them find that person
33:09despite jackie's cooperation by july authorities are no closer to identifying the actual hitmen
33:18it's good old-fashioned police work sometimes you have to turn over every stone to find what you're
33:24what you're looking for in this case investigators comb through hundreds of hours of security footage from
33:33outside nick's house and eventually they hit pay dirt in the footage police see two men approaching the house
33:41on the afternoon of february 28th one of the men is wearing a t-shirt with a logo on it
33:48from a local business
33:50when police visit the business an employee identifies the man as cameron v
33:59cameron tells the detectives about the unusual meeting he had that day
34:05cameron tells police that the other man in the video is an acquaintance named johnny leone
34:12johnny had invited him over to nick's house because nick needed help moving and he would pay in cash
34:20but when he got there nick and johnny claimed that a couple people in austin were costing them
34:26thirty thousand dollars a month and needed to be shot maybe also some dogs the men offered ten thousand
34:34dollars for the job twenty five hundred dollars up front twenty five hundred dollars after the deed was
34:41done and five thousand dollars at some point in the future nick was expecting to inherit eight million
34:49dollars yet apparently he's paying on an installment plan nick and johnny described to cameron a surprisingly
34:58well thought out plan the idea was to be in and out in 30 minutes and back in college station
35:06before dawn
35:08johnny would use his own gun and cameron would get one from a drawer inside the house
35:16nick and johnny even recommended that cameron leave his phone at home
35:20so it would look like he never left college station at all and instead was sleeping the entire time
35:31cameron rejects the other men's offer and quickly leaves
35:36but the information he provides police is enough to bring in johnny leone
35:44on july 11th detectives arrest leone outside his apartment in college station
35:52johnny insists that he had nothing to do with the murder he was home
35:57asleep next to his girlfriend the entire time
36:03it's a familiar story
36:06unfortunately he missed the part about actually leaving his phone at home
36:12when the detective confronts leone about his cell phone traveling to austin
36:18leone changes his tune
36:22johnny admits he went to austin with nick on february 28th when nick was intending to kill his parents
36:31according to johnny he stayed in the car the entire time
36:36while nick was trying to get inside the home
36:42when nick came back to the car he insisted he just wasn't able to get inside
36:50johnny admits that nick offered him a hundred thousand dollars to kill his parents
36:56but he insists that he turned nick down johnny's story falls apart in the details
37:04he claims he was home in bed with his girlfriend in college station all night
37:09but he actually communicated by phone with his girlfriend from austin
37:15if you have to text the person you're in bed with while you're in bed with them there's a problem
37:20in
37:21your relationship
37:24on august 15th nick's charges are upped to capital murder
37:30one month later johnny is indicted on the same charge
37:35but the identity of the second hitman remains a mystery
37:40until a further search of johnny's phone reveals 64 messages pointing directly at one man
37:53six months after the 2018 home invasion murder of austin texas jeweler ted shaughnessy
38:01ted's son nicholas faces a charge of capital murder which in texas can carry the death penalty
38:10nick's friend johnny leone faces the same charge
38:14johnny admits he went to austin with nick on february 28th when nick was intending to kill his parents
38:22but police know that there were two shooters in the shaughnessy house on the night of the murder
38:28and on december 5th they bring a new suspect in for questioning
38:34arian smith lives in fort worth and is an old friend of johnny's in fact they go way back to
38:40last
38:40year when they were arrested together for drugs analysis of johnny's cell phone shows 64 communications
38:48between arian and johnny the day before the murder
38:55if those two had something else to talk about 64 times that day that would be an incredible coincidence
39:05arian admits to knowing johnny and to meeting nick at a club in the days before the murder
39:13arian explains that he and a friend drove from fort worth to college station on march 1st to meet johnny
39:23when they arrived johnny pulled him aside and offered him 5 000 per month
39:31paid for by nick shaughnessy to help kill nick's parents
39:37arian insists that he turned johnny down but he did let johnny borrow his friend's car to make the trip
39:44to
39:44austin arian has a familiar explanation about why his phone showed up at the site of
39:51the murder arian explains he accidentally left his phone in the car as johnny drove off
39:59he insists that he stayed in a motel with his friend and didn't see johnny until the next morning
40:07it's a creative variation on the old i was a home sleeping excuse but it isn't any more successful
40:15when police check with arian's friend they get another side of the story the friend confirms
40:22traveling with arian from fort worth to college station to meet with johnny but he insists that
40:29arian left with johnny in his car and didn't return to the motel until the morning
40:37police really do investigate alibis that's not just on tv
40:43when the detective confronts arian with the real story of what happened that night
40:49arian confesses to participating in the murder of ted shaughnessy
40:55and the attack on cory shaughnessy and tells police where to find the murder weapon
41:04in 2021 the travis county district attorney decides to push for plea deals
41:10rather than taking the capital murder case to court on april 7th 2021 nick shaughnessy and arian
41:18smith plea guilty to the lesser charge of murder and are both sentenced to 35 years in prison
41:26a week later johnny leone makes the same deal
41:32this was a case that shocked austin and now a son will spend 35 years in prison for a murder
41:38for hire plot that ended in his father's death nicholas shaughnessy was one of four
41:44co-defendants charged in his father's death another co-defendant also received the same sentence today
41:51authorities say they believe nick shaughnessy orchestrated the murder because he thought he
41:55stood to gain up to eight million dollars in life insurance as well as property if both of his parents
42:01were dead his mother survived the shooting in their home and was able to fire off several shots
42:06before the gunman fled in a statement today nick shaughnessy's attorneys say that he is ready to face
42:12the consequences for what happened 35 years is a long time to think about how greed destroyed not just
42:24one life but many including your own
42:30jackie pleads guilty to the lesser charge of attempted solicitation of capital murder
42:38she's sentenced to 120 days in jail plus 10 years of deferred adjudication which means despite her
42:46involvement in the murder plot she won't have a criminal record she's also sentenced to spend one
42:53night in jail every year for the 10 years on the anniversary of ted shaughnessy's murder
43:07this case proves a few simple truths about being 19 years old you're too young to get married
43:17you're too young to switch to plan b
43:22and if your plan b includes hiring a hitman
43:26you need a new plan b
43:29so
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