A teenager lived with the bullet-riddled bodies of his mum and stepdad for weeks after murdering them. Nikita Casap, 17, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide for killing his mum Tatiana Casap and his stepfather Donald Mayer at their home in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
In the two weeks leading up to the grisly slayings, Casap had been absent from school, and that along with some “weird or suspicious” texts from his stepdad’s phone, sparked a police welfare check at the family home. On searching the property, Tatiana’s body was found buried under a pile of clothes and blankets in the hallway. She had multiple shots to her neck, upper torso, abdomen and right wrist. Donald had sustained a single gunshot wound to the head and was found in the first floor office.
Law enforcement had to use alternative methods to confirm identities because both bodies were in a state of decomposition, according to prosecutors, who added that the pair died around February 11, or 17 days before their discovery on February 28.
He lived with their corpses for 12 of those days. While their remains decomposed, he continued to message his school, the employer of his stepfather, and relatives.
On the 12th day, he made his escape in his stepdad’s Volkswagen Atlas. As cops busted in the door of their home in Wisconsin, he was picked up during a traffic stop in Wakeeney, Kansas, around 850 miles away.
Detailing the arrest, court documents said: “Officers observed in plain view a gun on the passenger side floorboard that was later determined to be a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum firearm.
Further, officers located [the dead parents’] driver’s licenses, unused ammunition for the .357 Magnum and spent shell casings.”
Casap had also plundered his parents possessions, with jewellery, other valuables, and cash found in the vehicle amounting to more than $10,000 (£7,741).
He was initially charged with theft and driving offences because he did not have a license and was driving a car without the owner’s consent.
It wasn’t until later when the bodies were discovered that he was hit with first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of hiding a corpse and two counts of theft of movable property.
In the documents, the worrying messages, which Casap sent to a female classmate, were gory images and references to shooting his parents and himself.
He had also been sending messages with someone in Russia about killing the president, which investigators found while searching his phone. He had considered the idea of leaving the US and escaping to Ukraine.
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