Rudy charged with 2 murders

Thorp man accused of killing wife, unborn child

By Matt Ollwerther - Marshfield News-Herald

NEILLSVILLE -- Shaun W. Rudy was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and dismembering a corpse on Friday.

Rudy, 23, of Thorp, shot his 21-year-old wife, Christine, on Nov. 12, cut up her body and threw the remains in the Chippewa River one or two days later, a criminal complaint claims.

Christine M. Rudy was six months pregnant at the time.

Heather S. Teschler, 18, who authorities say was involved in a love triangle with Shaun and Christine Rudy, was charged with aiding a felon, being a party to a crime, a felony, and obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor.

Teschler deliberately misled investigators or withheld information that would have helped them, the complaint contends.

William Poss, Shaun Rudy's public defender, declined comment Friday, saying he was aware of the charges, but hadn't seen the included exhibits.

The charges were a culmination of nine county and state officials' work, said Clark County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Jim Backus, in a "very labor intensive" investigation.

"It's great for us to see this coming to an end," he said.

According to the criminal complaint:

In Clark County Jail on unrelated drug and firearm charges, Shaun Rudy talked openly about his wife's death with his cellmate, Joshua A. Johnson.

He told Johnson that he tried "shooting her (Christine) up" with methamphetamine to force an abortion of the fetus.

Shaun and Christine Rudy were high on meth Nov. 12 during the shooting along Roger Creek Avenue in the town of Butler. Shaun Rudy was upset his wife was pregnant and using drugs, he said.

Christine Rudy began to "wig out," according to court records used for search warrants. Shaun Rudy drove a short distance before returning to where his wife was sitting beside the road.

Teschler told investigators Shaun Rudy loaded a 12-gauge shotgun.

When Christine Rudy looked at her husband, he said, "Till death do us part," then pulled the trigger. Teschler was in the car, but turned her head before the shotgun fired.

Teschler and Shaun Rudy again drove away, but returned, wrapped Christine Rudy's body in a tarp and brought it to his house. In a shed there, Shaun Rudy cut off his wife's arms and legs, placing them in "corn bags."

He placed the appendages and torso in a garbage can that he threw into the Chippewa River from the Cobban Bridge in Chippewa County on Nov. 13 or 14.

Teschler and Shaun Rudy burned their clothes and other items they thought contained evidence, such as blood.

Authorities searched the Chippewa River at least twice, but did not find Christine Rudy's remains. They plan to start again when the weather and ice conditions permit.

Skull fragments and brain matter were found during a Nov. 29 search at the scene of the shooting. About three days later, cadaver dogs led searchers to a burn pit at Shaun Rudy's parents' home, where they found bone fragments, according to court records.

A forensic anthropologist said most of the tissues she analyzed were burned remains of a fetus, along with adult bone fragments which "exhibited evidence of suspected cut marks."

"It is possible that the fetus was deliberately removed and burned independently of the majority of the adult remains," she told investigators.

Shaun Rudy told Johnson he had sex with his soon-to-be wife after previously getting out of jail. He was surprised when she became pregnant, because Shaun Rudy believed she was unable to have children.

Shaun Rudy told authorities: "She begged me to marry her and that's when I said (expletive) it; I went down to ShopKo and bought a $20 ring or so. I wasn't ready for another child. I still ain't but I mean all that I could do is my best."

A friend who visited Teschler and Shaun Rudy at his parents' house said Teschler hated Christine Rudy "with a passion." During one fight, Christine Rudy told her husband he should divorce her and marry Teschler.

Several friends knew of the love triangle, and said all three were unhappy with the situation.

Shaun Rudy told Johnson he had plotted several ways to kill his wife with Teschler.

The case of Christine Rudy's death broke when Jacy M. Walters, 24, Stanley, called Stanley police on Nov. 19 and said Shaun Rudy had told her he had killed his wife.

According to the criminal complaint:

Shaun Rudy made threats several times that he would kill his mother, Walters and Teschler because they talked to authorities.

Christine Rudy stayed in the car while her husband and Teschler burglarized a Guttenberg, Iowa, home. The three ran out of money for the trip on Nov. 10, and broke into the house to fund their travel home.

Shaun Rudy also confessed to Johnson that he had robbed more than 27 bars.

If convicted, first degree murder carries a life sentence. He also is being charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and a firearm as a convicted felon after being arrested on Nov. 18.

He might appear in court Tuesday to enter a plea on the unrelated charges.

Shaun Rudy is in the Clark County Jail, while Teschler is in the Taylor County Jail. Teschler could be extradited to Clayton County, Iowa, on burglary charges.

Clark County District Attorney Darwin Zwieg did not return several messages left at his office Friday afternoon.

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