Waukesha death investigation, teen booked into Waukesha County Jail

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Nikita Casap (Courtesy: WCSD)

WAUKESHA, Wis. - The teen arrested in Kansas and charged in Waukesha County with stealing a car and gun from the home where his mother and stepfather were found dead was booked into the Waukesha County Jail on Tuesday.

Last week, prosecutors charged 17-year-old Nikita Casap with those two felonies. No charges have been filed related to the deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, and stepfather, Donald Mayer.

WARNING: Details of this report may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.

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.

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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. 

On March 5, the medical examiner's office identified the deceased as 51-year-old Donald Mayer and 35-year-old Tatiana Casap. Family had previously identified Mayer and his wife.

Family photo: Nikita Casap, Tatiana Mayer, Donald Mayer

Prosecutors said the 17-year-old Casap was not at the home at the time of the welfare check, and the family's dog was missing. A search of the home revealed paperwork that indicated Mayer purchased a handgun, but the gun was not found during the search of the home.

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 Nikita 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 Mayer's phone on Feb. 23 and had not heard from any members of the family since. A deputy also contacted 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 Mayer's Volkswagen Atlas shortly after noon on Feb. 23 – and Nikita Casap was the driver.

Law enforcement scene near Cider Hills and Heather, Waukesha

Deputies learned Nikita Casap had not been issued a driver's license. Advanced location records showed a "device" associated with the 17-year-old 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, Nikita Casap appeared to be the only person in the vehicle, along with a small dog.