OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
1:10 PM – Thursday, January 8, 2026
An 18-year-old man in Wisconsin accused of murdering his parents in order to steal their money and fund a plan to assassinate President Donald Trump has pleaded guilty, in a deal made with state prosecutors.
On Thursday, 18-year-old Nikita Casap pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in Waukesha County Circuit Court for the murders of his mother, Tatiana Casap, and stepfather, Donald Mayer Jr., last year.
Judge Ralph Ramirez asked Casap in court if he understood the ramifications of guilty pleas and if he admits to murdering his stepfather and mother. According to reports, Casap visibly trembled in his seat, responding, “Yes, your honor,” to all of the judge’s questions.
Both homicide counts carry mandatory life prison sentences. However, Judge Ramirez has the power to grant Casap the possibility of parole after serving 20 years in prison on each count when he is sentenced on March 5th.
Public defender Joseph Rifelj, Casap’s attorney, spoke only to confirm the terms of the plea agreement with Ramirez and to say he has discussed it with his client. Rifelj left the hearing without speaking to reporters.
Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese informed reporters that she will argue for no parole eligibility, emphasizing that she is unwilling to take any chances on Casap’s potential for rehabilitation. Labeling the 18-year-old a “danger to the community,” Boese vowed to seek a permanent life sentence to ensure he never has the opportunity to carry out the violent plans he once envisioned.
Investigators say Casap fatally shot his mother and stepfather at their home in the village of Waukesha on February 11, 2025. Disturbingly, Casap also allegedly lived with the two decomposing bodies for about two weeks.
According to prosecutors and court documents, his mother’s body was left in the first-floor hallway, covered with blankets and a towel, surrounded by dried blood and showing advanced decomposition, including a “blackened face.” His stepfather’s body was located in the home’s first-floor office, concealed under a pile of clothing, with a “visible gunshot wound to the head.”
Casap proceeded to dump the two bodies into his stepfather’s SUV, stealing $14,000 in cash, his mother’s jewelry, passports, his stepfather’s gun, and his family dog, according to the criminal complaint. He fled across the country for until police arrested him during a traffic stop in Kansas on February 28, 2025.
Federal authorities stated that Casap murdered his parents to secure the “financial means and autonomy” required to fund an extremist plot against President Trump.
According to an unsealed warrant, Casap had already begun acquiring drone components and explosives while coordinating with a “Russian-speaking contact on Telegram.” Investigators discovered a three-page manifesto on his phone that explicitly detailed a plan to assassinate the President and Vice President to “guarantee chaos” and trigger a government collapse.
The document also reportedly contains several passages praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and calling for the murder of all Jewish “politicians and billionaires.”
“The killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carry out his plan,” the warrant added.
Court documents reveal that in the weeks leading up to the murders, Casap also used Telegram to coordinate a post-assassination escape. In messages sent to a Russian-speaking contact, the 18-year-old inquired about the timeline for moving to Ukraine to avoid detection. While the individual’s responses were in Russian, the complaint notes that the extraction plan was a key component of Casap’s broader conspiracy to overthrow the government.
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?”
“As to why, specifically Trump I think it’s obvious,” Casap wrote in one excerpt from the manifesto. “By getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president, that is guaranteed to bring in some chaos. And not only that, but it will further bring into the public the idea that assassinations and accelerating the collapse are possible things to do.”
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