Shawn Carl avoids prison in his court sentence
Shawn Carl, 52, of Stratford, will avoid prison if he completes a four-year probation term, after his conviction on February 6 in Marathon County Court on multiple charges related to the December 2020 shooting death of a 20-year-old Marshfield man.
His 21-year-old son, Jared Carl, was sentenced in July to life in prison for the murder of Christian Schauer. Shawn Carl was one of four murder suspects connected to Schauer’s death.
Shawn Carl pleaded no contest to charges of harboring or aiding a felon, obstructing an officer and selling or possessing machine guns. He was given a withheld sentence by Judge Suzanne O’Neill for four years of probation on the two felony charges and sentenced to six months in jail on the misdemeanor obstruction charge. Additional charges of theft and selling, delivering or possessing a firearm silencer were dismissed but read into the court record.
Early in the murder investigation, Jared Carl claimed his father shot Schauer. Shawn Carl was arrested in February 2021 on charges of first-degree homicide and for possession of a fully automatic rifle after his son told police his father killed Schauer during an argument over drugs. Those charges were modified on March 8, 2021, after new information shifted the homicide charges to Shawn Carl’s son, Jared Carl. The Marathon County District attorney’s office charged Jared Carl and a co-defendant, Audrey Benson of Marshfield, who lured Schauer to the Mc Millan Marsh in the town of Spencer after Jared Carl said there was a “price on the victim’s head.” After they arrived at the south end of Abe Lincoln Avenue, just south of Swamp Road, Jared Carl shot Schauer multiple times before leaving his body on the side of the road. Jared Carl then drove the victim’s vehicle to his father’s town of Eau Pleine property, where Shawn Carl helped Jared Carl hide the car from police.
Benson faced 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. In May, Benson was convicted of hiding a corpse, while her other charges were dismissed. She was sentenced to four years in prison.
A fourth suspect, Steven Crandall, 24, is also facing charges. Police say he offered a $5,000 bounty for Schauer’s death. Crandall, of Wisconsin Rapids, is the only suspect whose case has not yet concluded. He faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide, as party to a crime.
Crandall is currently serving prior court sentences at Dodge County Correctional Institute in Waupun. He is scheduled to appear in Marathon County Court by video at 10 a.m. on May 18 for a pre-trial conference in Schauer’s death.
As part of Shawn Carl’s sentence by Judge O’Neill, he will undergo assessment, treatment or counseling as recommended by his supervising agent and is ordered to have no contact with the victim’s family. He is required to report to jail by Thursday, March 23, and and was given 67 days credit for time already served while waiting for the conclusion of the case.
