Shane Jaggarnauth pleaded innocence for 7 months.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: The trial for Shane Jaggarnauth, the New York man who allegedly killed his parents for cutting him off financially, got underway on Monday, and has revealed more information regarding the gruesome and tragic slayings that occurred nearly three years ago.
Jaggarnauth (26) is accused of having shot his father Sugrim (64), and mother Rosie (56) several times in the head on the night of September 2, 2011. According to prosecutors, Jaggarnauth – who lived at home with his parents and older brother Shawn (31) – had been cut off from his parents after they discovered that he made two unauthorized transactions from their joint bank account, which totaled $18,000. One of these transactions may have even involved Jaggarnauth forging his mother’s signature.
Frustrated that they had done something like that to him, Jaggarnauth allegedly killed them, and even got away with it for seven months. Jaggarnauth told police that his parents were killed in a robbery that took place while he was out walking the family dog in the early hours of the morning. According to report, Rosie Jaggarnauth managed to call 911 before dying, but was only able to say “We’ve been shot!” before expiring.
In the seven months between the slaying and when Jaggarnauth was finally charged, he acted innocent, lied to investigators, and even attended his parents’ funeral, according to the New York Post, seeming distraught at the untimely loss of his parents. Jaggarnauth also told police that he caught the gunman coming out of his house when he returned from walking the dog, and yelled at him for killing his parents. Jaggarnauth claimed he was shot in the shoulder by the gunman, but prosecutors believe this was self-inflicted, in an effort to make himself look innocent.
Jaggarnauth was finally arrested and charged in May of 2012, when he went on the lam. His brother Shawn filed a missing person report with local police, who tracked Jaggarnauth to a nearby gas station, according to the New York Daily News. It was at this point that Jaggarnauth confessed to being involved with a robbery of his house, but still denied being the shooter who killed his parents. Prosecutors believe this is a lie, and that Jaggarnauth acted alone with the sole intention of murdering them.
Now, with the case proceeding to trial, prosecutors look to paint Jaggarnauth as hopelessly dependent on his parents, someone whose rage at being kept away from his mom and dad’s money drove him to commit such an atrocious crime. The Queens murders have rocked the local community, especially since the elder Jaggarnauths were quiet and nice people, according to local reports.
Jaggarnauth’s defense team will purportedly argue that he planned a robbery, but never meant for his parents to get killed, and did not, in fact, pull the trigger himself. They will also argue not to allow the forgery accusation and charges of stealing from his parents’ bank account to be used as evidence.
If convicted, Jaggarnauth could end up spending the rest of his life behind bars.