Murder trial to start after jury is set

Jury selection started Monday, May 16, in the long-awaited homicide trial of 35-year-old Sheldon Thompson, with the trial expected to last into early June.

Thompson is accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, Jackie Defoe, her unborn child, and her 20-month-old son in March 2020. Thompson faces two charges of murder in the first degree each for the deaths of Jackie Ann Defoe and her son Kevin Lee Shabaiash Jr., and one charge of murder in the first degree of an unborn child, premeditated. He also faces two charges of murder in the second degree-intent and murder in the second degree of an unborn child-intent, not premeditated.

According to the criminal complaint, Fond du Lac police officers responded to a call for service on March 7, 2020, from someone who said Thompson had told them he had killed Jackie DeFoe and her son the previous day. Upon responding to the home, police found DeFoe dead, with stab wounds, in a closet. She had been 13 weeks pregnant. They found her son’s body in another bedroom, with observable bruising around the head. Both bodies were concealed under blankets and clothing and the doors had been screwed shut.

Police attempts to locate Thompson, who had lived at the home intermittently, were initially unsuccessful. He was eventually located in an area off Mission Road in Perch Lake Township and taken into custody the next day. Thompson has been in the Carlton County jail since his arrest.

Earlier this month, Sixth District Judge Jill Eichenwald ruled on the issue of introducing relationship evidence and past practice of domestic violence, deciding in favor of allowing the prosecution to introduce past domestic conduct in relation to the two charges of murder in the first degree-domestic abuse for Defoe and Shabaiash.

“For a defendant to be convicted of first-degree domestic abuse murder, the State must prove ‘not only that the defendant caused the death of victim while committing domestic abuse, but also that domestic abuse had occurred previously to the extent that it was a past pattern,’” Eichwald wrote in her May 2 memorandum, noting that the State must be allowed to offer relevant evidence, including incidents of abuse by Thompson in a previous relationship.

Judge Eichenwald also granted a request by the prosecution that Thompson wear an electronic restraining device during the trial for several reasons, including more recent charges that he assaulted corrections officers in the jail. The device would be placed around his calf and wouldn’t be visible to jurors.

In addition to the homicide charges, Thompson is now facing two counts of felony fourth-degree assault of a correctional employee for an alleged attack on two jail employees Feb. 19. According to the criminal complaint, he struck one employee in the face, causing them to hit their head on the wall. He then allegedly struck a second employee several times with his fists. Officers were able to stop the alleged attack by using a stun gun and wrestling Thompson to the ground.