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Teenager Charged With Killing Mother and Stepfather in a Plan to Assassinate Trump

Teenager Charged With Killing Mother and Stepfather in a Plan to Assassinate Trump

New York Times13-04-2025
A Wisconsin teenager has been charged in the killing of his mother and stepfather in what the federal authorities described as an attempt to obtain the money and autonomy he believed was necessary for a plot to kill President Trump and overthrow the government.
The teenager, Nikita Casap, 17, was arrested last month in the deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, 35, and stepfather, Donald Mayer, 51, according to the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff's deputies found the bodies at the family's home in Waukesha, about 17 miles southwest of Milwaukee, after receiving a call on Feb. 28 requesting a welfare check, the department said.
According to federal documents unsealed on Friday, the fatal shootings were part of a plan by Mr. Casap, who identified with a right-wing terrorist network known as the Order of Nine Angels, to assassinate President Trump in what he believed would 'foment a political revolution in the United States,' federal investigators said.
Mr. Casap also paid, at least in part, for a drone and explosives that he planned to use in an attack, according to the documents, which were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
Mr. Casap's lawyers could not be immediately reached on Sunday for comment.
A self-described 'manifesto,' found on Mr. Casap's phone and detailed in the federal documents, contained images and praise of Adolf Hitler, as well as instructions to others to make bombs.
'By getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president, that is guaranteed to bring in some chaos,' Mr. Casap wrote.
According to the federal documents, sheriff's deputies found the body of Ms. Casap covered in blankets on Feb. 28 while responding to a call from Mr. Mayer's mother, who said that she had been unable to contact the family, and that Mr. Casap had not been at school in two weeks.
During a secondary search of the residence, deputies found Mr. Mayer's body also covered in blankets, according to the documents. They also located a receipt for a .357 Magnum handgun, which was not in the home.
Based on cellphone records, security footage and witness statements, the authorities determined that Mr. Mayer was killed on Feb. 11 at about 6:30 p.m., and that Ms. Casap was killed about two hours later, according to the documents.
Security camera footage taken on Feb. 12 showed Mr. Casap, who was traveling with the family dog, at a truck stop in Walcott, Iowa, in Mr. Mayer's car, according to the documents.
On Feb. 28, Mr. Mayer's car was listed as stolen. That day, officers with the WaKeeney, Kan., Police Department stopped Mr. Casap and saw a .357 Magnum handgun on the front passenger floorboard, according to the documents.
Officers also found ammunition, the wallets and phones of both his mother and stepfather and 'large amounts' of cash in dollars and euros.
Mr. Casap was charged with theft and possession of a firearm. He was later charged with several other felonies, including two counts of first-degree homicide and two counts of hiding a corpse, according to the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 7.
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