Shaun Hogan to serve 50 years in prison for killing Crystal Gaffney

CEDAR RAPIDS - Angela Lawrence said Friday she talked to her cousin Crystal Gaffney a few days before she was murdered. Gaffney told Lawrence she would die for her three girls. And 'that's exactly what she did” on July 8, 2014, Lawrence said in a victim's impact statement.

Lawrence, now legal guardian of Gaffney's daughters, said in the heart-wrenching statement she was thankful the girls wouldn't have to endure Shaun Hogan's abuse ever again. She couldn't imagine what the girls had been through, as they had to watch Hogan killing their mother.

'The (oldest daughter) has nightmares … she told me ‘I hate him, I hate him, I hate him,'” Lawrence, fighting back tears, said. 'She (the child) said she was sorry she ever knew him and his family.”

Lawrence said it breaks her heart when the girls call her 'Mommy” because their mother isn't with them and 'Crystal cherished being a mother.” Lawrence showed photos of Gaffney and her daughters to the judge, telling him she wanted him to know 'Crystal wasn't just a woman found on a road.”

Hogan, 38, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for hitting Gaffney in the head with a pipe wrench and stabbing her in the head with a screwdriver July 8. Gaffney's body wasn't found until July 9 on the Linn-Buchanan Road, where she was killed, according to prosecutors.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Jordan Schier said all three daughters, under the age of 13 at the time, were in the car when Hogan pulled their mother out of the vehicle and attacked her. The youngest girl was only 11-months-old and likely doesn't remember the event.

He was originally charged with first-degree murder, but pleaded in March to second-degree murder. Prosecutors previously said the plea was offered to spare the children from testifying and this was basically a life sentence for Hogan.

He must serve a mandatory 35-years before being eligible for parole. Hogan will be 73 at that time.

Geoffrey Gaffney, Crystal's father, said in a victim's statement that Hogan was an 'evil” person who would get off easy with 50 years and he 'doesn't deserve to see the light of day.” Geoffrey said he believes Hogan also planned to kill the girls.

'He took away my daughter … her girls had to watch this monster brutally kill their mother,” Geoffrey Gaffney said in the statement. 'He took a plea knowing we wouldn't want the girls to go through (a trial) and relive this.”

Hogan said before the judge sentenced him that when he met Gaffney in 2012, she put the 'biggest smile” on his face and they had many good times together. Hogan, who looked back at Gaffney's family, said he never 'meant for any of this to happen.” He repeatedly said he loved her and her children, and said the news accounts, which made him out a 'villain,” were wrong.

Hogan apologized to Gaffney's family and his family at the end of his statement.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill said he didn't have discretion about the 50 year sentence but even if he did, he believes Hogan 'deserves the maximum punishment for this offense.”

At the beginning of the hearing, Thornhill questioned Hogan on his plea because in the presentence report Hogan indicated to officials that his actions were in self-defense, saying Gaffney had a knife.

Thornhill asked Hogan if he was now making a self-defense claim but Hogan said no.

Hogan also will be required to pay victim restitution.

Court documents show Hogan's ex-wife, Tamera McClaren, went to the Waterloo Police Department about 5 p.m. on July 9, 2014 and told investigators she believed Hogan was responsible for Gaffney's death. McClaren told police Hogan called her about 10 p.m. on July 8, saying he had 'done something bad” and that Gaffney wasn't breathing. He wanted to know what to do with Gaffney's children.

Court documents also showed investigators spoke July 10 with Calvin Jones, who lives in Waterloo, which is where Hogan was located by police. He stayed overnight with Jones on July 9 and the next day asked Jones for a ride out of the state and a change of clothes.