By Shereen Siewert
One of three suspects charged in connection with the December 2020 shooting death of a Marshfield man pleaded guilty to homicide charges Tuesday, according to online court records.
Jared Carl, 20, now stands convicted on charges of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the death of Christian Schauer, whose body was discovered Dec. 29. Schauer was 20 years old at the time of his death.
Additional charges of taking and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent, resisting or obstructing an officer and possession of THC with intent to deliver were dismissed but read into the record.
Early in the investigation, Carl claimed his father, Shawn Carl, shot Schauer. But police and prosecutors ultimately turned their attention to Jared Carl and a co-defendant, Audrey Benson, who they say lured Schauer to a remote area on false pretenses after Jared Carl said there was a “price on the victim’s head.”
After arriving at the south end of Abe Lincoln Avenue in Spencer, just south of Swamp Road, Jared Carl shot Schauer multiple times before leaving his body at the side of the road and driving the victim’s vehicle away from the scene, prosecutors said.
Benson, of Marshfield, also faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime, in addition to charges of hiding a corpse and resisting or obstructing an officer. A jury trial for Benson is set to begin on Jan. 31.
Jared Carl, of Stratford, will be sentenced April 11. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, but Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill has discretion to allow for the possibility of extended release after a minimum of 20 years spent behind bars. O’Neill ordered a presentencing investigation be completed before sentencing.
