Ex-Holmdel Cheerleader Conspired To Kill Father-In-Law, Cops Say

HOLMDEL, NJ — A girl who used to be a Holmdel High School cheerleader and field hockey player was arrested Tuesday in Austin, Texas and charged with conspiring to kill her father-in-law in a murder-for-hire plot.

Jaclyn Edison, 19, was arrested Tuesday, May 29 along with her husband, Nicolas Shaughnessy, also 19. The two teenagers live together in College Station, Texas.

Warrants were issued for their arrest May 29 for the offense of criminal solicitation, a first-degree felony. Shaughnessy and Edison are alleged to have conspired together and hired someone to murder Shaughnessy’s parents, Theodore and Corey Shaughnessy.

The Travis County Sheriff's Office announced warrants for their arrest this week.

On March 2 of this year, Theodore “Ted” Shaughnessy, was shot to death in his Travis County mansion, which is located near Austin, according to an affidavit obtained by Patch. He was shot by intruders who broke into the home at 4:45 a.m., while he and his wife both slept in their bed. He got up and returned fire with his gun, but was killed by the suspects. His wife, Corey, stayed in the bedroom and also fired her gun, but then she ran out of ammunition and hid in her closet. One of the family's Rottweilers was shot and killed in the gunfight, as well.

Nicolas' bedroom window was found wide open the night of the murders.

According to the affidavit, Nick Shaughnessy remotely logged into his parents’ security system and disabled the home's security alarm that night. ADT records show that Nick’s College Station IP address logged into the system three times the night of the murder.

Police also say he left a window in his bedroom open and told the killer or killers to enter through the window.

Chat logs and texts obtained by police show months of texts back and forth between Edison and Shaughnessy, discussing a $50,000 payment for a "job." Shaughnessy had also spent weeks asking people if they would commit murder for a payout, Travis County Sheriff's officers said. The couple even approached a woman who worked in their College Avenue apartment complex about two weeks before the murder, asking if she wanted to make money through "illegal activities, anything from strippers to murder."

The woman said Nicolas texted her that he would "pay her $20,000 per head, with a $15,000 incentive," and included two skeleton emojis in the text. The woman said she stopped responding.

Shaughnessy was the sole beneficiary of a $2 million life insurance payout if his parents both died. His father, Ted Shaughnessy, was a wealthy jeweler who owned Gallerie Jewelers in downtown Austin. His wife worked with him as an artist and certified gemologist appraiser at the shop.

Edison and Shaughnessy secretly married in July 2017, TAP Into reported, which obtained court documents that showed they married.

The gunman or gunmen from that night have not yet been apprehended.

Jaclyn used to live in Holmdel, where she attended Holmdel High School.

Since the murder, Shaughnessy has been living with his mother, Corey, who defends her son's innocence, even though police say he tried to kill her that night.

“We have been working with the Shaughnessy family over the last several months as they mourn the loss of Ted,” his attorneys, Perry Minton and Rick Flores, said in a statement to the Austin-American Statesman. “These allegations are not consistent in any way with the young man we have come to know. Nick has been living with his mother since this tragedy occurred. Ms. Shaughnessy stands firmly behind her son. We will review the evidence as it becomes available to us.”

Shaughnessy is being held on a $3 million bail; Edison is being held on a $1 million bail.

Mugshots released by the Travis County Sheriff's Office.