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Teen accused of stealing gun, SUV
Waukesha County prosecutors have charged a teen with stealing a car and gun from the home where his mother and stepfather were found dead on Feb. 28.
WAUKESHA, Wis. - Waukesha County prosecutors have charged a teen with stealing a car and gun from the home where his mother and stepfather were found dead on Feb. 28.
WARNING: Details of this complaint may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
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Waukesha deaths, Kansas arrest
The backstory:
The Waukesha County Sheriff's Department said a call requesting a welfare check on the family came in around 9:45 a.m. on Feb. 28. Deputies responded to the family's home on Cider Hills Drive, part of a subdivision just south of Genessee Road in the village of Waukesha, and found one resident dead. The next day, the sheriff's department confirmed a second person was found dead inside the home.
Court filings state a female was found in a hallway with towels over her legs and a blanket over her body. Her body showed signs of decomposition, and she had a possible exit wound in her back, and a possible bullet hole was in a wall near where her body was found. A second person, a male with a gray beard, was found dead in an office covered in a pile of clothing. He had "an obvious wound" to the back of his head.
The family of 51-year-old Donald Mayer on Saturday identified him and his wife, Tatiana Mayer, as the male and female found dead in the home. The Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office is yet to identify the deceased.
Family photo: Nikita Casap, Tatiana Mayer, Donald Mayer
Prosecutors said 17-year-old Nikita Casap, was not at the home, and the family's dog was missing. A search of the home revealed paperwork that indicated Donald Mayer purchased a handgun, but the gun was not found during the search.
As the death investigation was underway, police in WaKeeney, Kansas stopped a vehicle that ran a stop sign. The vehicle came back stolen out of Wisconsin, and the juvenile driver was taken into custody after items "consistent with information" related to a Wisconsin homicide investigation were found in the vehicle.
A criminal complaint states Casap was the driver, and the family dog was in the vehicle. A gun was seen "in plain view" on the passenger side floorboard. Driver's licenses of the deceased were also in the vehicle, as were unused ammunition and shell casings.
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Dig deeper:
In regard to the welfare check, the complaint states Casap previously had perfect attendance at school but had not been present for two weeks, and no excused absences had been provided to the school.
Court filings said a family member received "suspicious or weird text messages" from Donald Mayer's phone on Feb. 23 and had not heard from any members of the family since. A deputy also contacted Donald Mayer's workplace, per the complaint, where a manager said he had been in text message contact from Feb. 13 through Feb. 25 because Mayer said "he was sick and couldn't talk on the phone."
Dispatch contacted all local hospitals, per the complaint, and none of the three residents was located. Investigators also learned there was a vacation hold on mail for the address where the deceased were later found. A neighbor told investigators he passed Donald Mayer's Volkswagen Atlas shortly after noon on Feb. 23 – and Casap was the driver.
Law enforcement scene near Cider Hills and Heather, Waukesha
Deputies learned Casap had not been issued a driver's license. Advanced location records showed a "device" associated with Casap left the Waukesha area around 10 a.m. on Feb. 24. It followed a route through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado – where records ended.
Along the route, court filings state the device stopped at "The World's Largest Truckstop" in Walcott, Iowa. Surveillance video from that location and time showed Mayer's Volkswagen Atlas. Based on a school photo, Casap appeared to be the only person in the vehicle, along with a small dog.
What we don't know:
At this time, the Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office has not released autopsy information – including cause of death, manner of death and identities – for the two people found dead in the village of Waukesha home. As such, no charges related to their deaths have been filed.
The Source: Information in this report is from the Waukesha County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court.