Prosecutors charge Waukesha teen in deaths of his mom, stepfather
By Hannah Hilyard
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WAUKESHA, Wis. (WISN) — Waukesha County prosecutors have just charged a high school student with first-degree intentional homicide in connection to the deaths of his mom and stepfather.
Prosecutors now say 17-year-old Nikita Casap shot and killed his mother, Tatiana Casap, and her husband, Donald Mayer, inside their Waukesha home on Cider Hills Drive in February. Sheriff’s deputies found their bodies decomposing inside the home on Feb. 28. Aside from the two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, Casap is now also charged with two counts of hiding a corpse.
“The highest, highest counts that we have, quite frankly, in our country is what’s been alleged here,” Waukesha County Commissioner David Herring said in court Thursday afternoon.
A new 14-page criminal complaint said a Waukesha West classmate, identified as Witness A, told investigators Casap mentioned that “he was planning to kill his parents” in the weeks leading up to their deaths. That same witness said Casap also discussed communicating with a Russian man about conspiring to “overthrow the U.S. government and assassinate President Trump.”
“The defendant did threaten to kill Witness A if she told anyone what he was telling her after he had given her information that he was speaking with someone from Russia,” prosecutor Brooke Schultz said during Thursday’s court hearing.
Prosecutors said those conversations with the Russian happened on an app called Telegram. Some of the messages allegedly discussed how the teen wanted to flee to Eastern Europe, saying, “I’ll be able to live a normal life? Even if when it’s found out I did it?
“He’s been speaking with someone in Russian about moving to Ukraine after committing these crimes, so the state is concerned that he’s a flight risk if he is ever released,” Schultz told the commissioner.
Investigators believe Casap shot and killed the couple on Feb. 11. They said he was living with his parents’ bodies for 12 days, all while communicating with his school, his stepfather’s employer and family members from his parents’ accounts. The criminal complaint details surveillance footage from inside the home showing Casap in the same room as his stepfather’s body “to keep candles lit.”
“They’re indicating they’ve got video evidence. They’ve got communication. They’ve got transactions. They’ve got a list, a litany of things,” Herring said.
Police in Kansas arrested Casap on Feb. 28, the same day deputies found the couple dead inside their home. Prosecutors said he had $14,000 cash with him and $14,000 worth of his mother’s jewelry.
Casap’s legal team wanted to keep the teen’s bond at $250,000, which was set during a previous hearing for lesser charges. Prosecutors pushed for a $5,000,000 bond in court Thursday.
The commissioner decided to set his bond at $1,000,000. Casap remains in custody.
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