MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of killing his parents and stealing their money to fund a plan to assassinate President Donald Trump pleaded guilty to two homicide counts Thursday, locking himself into two life prison sentences.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Disturbing details after prosecutors charge Waukesha teen in deaths of mom, stepfather
Nikita Casap, 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in Waukesha County Circuit Court in connection with the deaths of his stepfather, Donald Mayer, and his mother, Tatiana Casap, last year. In exchange, prosecutors dropped seven other charges, including two counts of hiding a corpse and theft.
Each homicide count carries a mandatory life prison sentence. Judge Ralph Ramirez could choose to make Casap eligible for parole after he serves 20 years on each count when he is sentenced on March 5.
Watch: Teen pleads guilty in Waukesha County double murder:
A trembling Casap spoke only to tell Ramirez that he understood what he was doing, answering Ramirez's questions with “Yes, your honor.” Casap's attorney, state public defender Joseph Rifelj, left the hearing without talking to reporters.
District Attorney Lesli Boese told reporters outside court that she will push for no parole eligibility, calling Casap a “danger to the community," and said she didn't want to take any chances that he could be rehabilitated.
According to a criminal complaint, investigators believe Casap shot his stepfather and his mother at their home in the village of Waukesha on or around Feb. 11.
He lived with the decomposing bodies for weeks before fleeing across the country in his stepfather's SUV with $14,000 in cash, jewelry, passports, his stepfather's gun and the family dog, according to the complaint. He was eventually arrested during a traffic stop in Kansas on Feb. 28.
Federal authorities have accused Casap of planning his parents' murders, buying a drone and explosives and sharing his plans with others, including a Russian speaker. They said in a federal search warrant that he wrote a manifest calling for Trump's assassination and was in touch with others about his plan to kill Trump and overthrow the U.S. government.
“The killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan,” that warrant said.
Detectives found several messages on Casap's cellphone from January 2025 in which Casap asks how long he will have to hide before he is moved to Ukraine. An unknown individual responded in Russian, the complaint said, but the document doesn't say what that person told Casap. In another message Casap asks: “So while in Ukraine, I'll be able to live a normal life? Even if it's found out I did it?”
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