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Suspect sentenced in death of man found near Spencer in 2020

Jared Carl, 21, of Stratford, was sentenced on July 25 in Marathon County Circuit Court to life in prison on a felony charge of first degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of Christian Schauer, 20, of Marshfield on Dec. 29, 2020.

Carl is eligible for release to extended supervision after serving 35 years in prison. The court has given him 535 days credit for the time he’s already served in prison.

Carl is the second person sentenced to prison in connection to Schauer’s death. Audrey Benson, 21, of Marshfield, pled guilty and was sentenced on May 3 in Marathon County Circuit Court for a felony charge of hiding a corpse in connection to the shooting death of Schauer. She is serving four years in prison and three years of extended supervision.

Steven Crandall, 24, of Wisconsin Rapids, was charged in April in Marathon County Circuit Court with felony first degree intentional homicide as party to a crime in the shooting death of Schauer. He was scheduled for an arraignment and pre-trial conference July 27 in court.

In January, Crandall told two police detectives while serving in the Wood County Jail on a felony charge of taking and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent that he did not kill Schauer but he “put out a hit” on Schauer by hiring associates in Chicago to kill him, take the license plates off his car and get rid of all the evidence for $5,000, prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint.

Crandall told investigators Schauer robbed one of his dealers of 80 prescription pain killers, prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint. Crandall said he met with the people he hired at a Marshfield hotel after Schauer was killed, confirmed the death by looking at a picture, and paid the murder suspects $5,000.

Jared Carl’s father, Shawn Carl, 51, of Stratford, has plead not guilty to a felony charge of harboring or aiding a felon. A jury trial will be held from Feb. 6-10 to determine whether or not Shawn Carl is guilty of the charge.

A fur trapper found Schauer’s body about 2 p.m. on Dec. 29, 2020, south of Swamp Road in the McMillan Marsh Wildlife area in the town of Spencer. An autopsy showed Schauer died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Benson told police she and Schauer, her best friend, went to Chicago the weekend before his death, prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint. She said Jared Carl and Schauer came to her Marshfield apartment on Dec. 29, 2020, to smoke marijauna. She didn’t like smoking in her apartment, so they went for a drive in Schauer’s car.

She told police Jared Carl told her someone offered him money to beat up Schauer and “leave him bloody,” prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint. Benson said she told Jared Carl not to shoot Schauer because he was her best friend, and Jared Carl said he wouldn’t do it. Benson said she didn’t know Jared Carl was going to shoot Schauer and that she was in the woods, away from the other two men, when the shooting took place.

Jared Carl told investigators the trio went for a drive that morning to Abe Lincoln Avenue in the town of Spencer, where he told Benson to get out of the car, prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint. Jared Carl said he told Schauer he was sorry and then shot him five or six times. Jared Carl said he then got out of the car, pulled Schauer out, took his coat and ordered Benson to get back in the car.

The pair then drove to the town of Eau Pleine home, located northwest of Stratford, that Jared Carl shared with his father Shawn Carl, prosecutors allege in 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.

Prosecutors allege Shawn Carl then helped his son and Benson buy a tarp and hide Schauer’s car in a field on the town of Eau Pleine property before he drove them back to Marshfield. Jared Carl told a detective he showed Benson the gun the morning they drove to the town of Spencer. He said he planned to shoot Schauer that morning and that he only helped Benson because she was his ex and he felt her life was in danger.

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