Eau Pleine man sentenced to life in prison for shooting death of Marshfield man in Spencer
WAUSAU – A 21-year-old Eau Pleine man was sentenced Monday to life in prison with the possibility of release after 35 years for the shooting death of a Marshfield man in Spencer in 2020.
Jared R. Carl pleaded guilty Dec. 21 to the first-degree intentional homicide of Christopher Schauer of Marshfield on Dec. 29, 2020. On Monday, Marathon County Circuit Judge Suzanne O'Neill sentenced Carl to the mandatory life in prison. After 35 years, Carl can return to Marathon County Circuit Court to have a hearing on whether the judge feels Carl is ready for release.
According to the criminal complaint, Carl told a detective that Audrey R. Benson, 21, of Marshfield, and Schauer were arguing when they returned from a weekend trip to Chicago. Carl said he asked Benson if she wanted him to take care of it, and she said yes.
Carl said he and Benson asked Schauer to go for a drive on the morning of Dec. 29. The three drove to Abe Lincoln Avenue in Spencer in Schauer's car, where Carl told Benson to get out of the car, according to the criminal complaints.
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Carl said he told Schauer he was sorry and then shot him five or six times, according to the complaints. Carl said he then got out of the car, pulled Schauer out, took his coat and ordered Benson to get back in the car.
Carl and Benson then drove to the home Carl shared with his father, Shawn Carl, 51, in Eau Pleine. They put the car in a field and called Shawn Carl, according to the complaint. Jared Carl said he told his father he shot Schauer to protect Benson and showed him Schauer's car with the bullet holes and blood stains.
Jared Carl told a detective he showed Benson the gun the morning they drove out to Spencer, according to the complaint. He said the two of them planned to shoot Schauer that morning. Jared Carl said he was only helping Benson because she was his ex and he felt her life was in danger, according to the complaint.
A fur trapper found Schauer's body about 2 p.m. Dec. 29 at the end of Abe Lincoln Avenue near Swamp Road in Spencer, according to the complaints. An autopsy determined Schauer died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Shawn Carl helped his son hide the vehicle, according to the complaint. Police became suspicious when Shawn Carl's co-workers reported he had been trying to sell a car that matched the one Schauer owned, according to the complaint.
O'Neill gave Jared Carl credit for 535 days already served in jail.
Shawn Carl is scheduled for trial in February on charges of aiding a felon, obstructing an officer, possessing a machine gun, possessing a firearm silencer and being a party to the crime of theft.
Benson was sentenced May 3 to four years in prison and three years' extended supervision for being a party to the crime of hiding a corpse.
Steven A. Crandall, 24, of Wisconsin Rapids, is scheduled for his next court appearance Wednesday for the charge of being a party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide. According to the criminal complaint, Crandall offered to pay $5,000 for Schauer's death.
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Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Eau Pleine man sentenced to life in prison for death of Marshfield man
