Wisconsin teen is person of interest in mom, stepdad's death; found 800 miles away with gun

NBC News

05-03-2025

A Wisconsin teenager was arrested in Iowa more than 800 miles away from the home where his mother and stepfather were both found slain, authorities said Tuesday.
The juvenile was stopped for running a stop sign near 745 S. 1st St. in Wakeeney, Iowa, at 11:25 p.m. CST on Friday, WaKeeney Police Chief Michael Romero said in a statement.
"The subject was taken into custody with no further incident. The subject was identified and found out to be a juvenile wanted out of Wisconsin," Romero added. "The subject is a person of interest in a double homicide that this Wisconsin sheriffs office is still investigating."
Romero declined to name the young motorist, but Waukesha County prosecutors identified the teen as a 17-year-old student from Waukesha West High School.
The boy's mother and her husband were found fatally shot at their Waukesha home on Friday afternoon when local authorities conducted a welfare check.
The woman's face "was blackened from decomposition with dried blood on the floor around her," according to the criminal complaint filed against the teenager.
The woman's husband was also found at the home "covered by a pile of clothing" with "an obvious wound to the back of" his head, the complaint said.
The teen has been charged with allegedly swiping his stepfather's Volkswagen Atlas and a firearm.
Relatives of the victims have identified them as 51-year-old Donald Mayer and his wife, Tatiana Casap, NBC Milwaukee affiliate WTMJ reported. The affiliate also reported that the teenager is Casap's son.
A neighbor of the family saw the 17-year-old suspect driving the Volkswagen on Feb. 23, the complaint said.
Cell phone pings showed that the teenager left Waukesha at about 10 a.m. on Feb. 24 and "took a general route through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado," according to prosecutors.
He visited The World's Largest Truckstop in Walcott, Iowa, from 2:25 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. the day he left Waukesha, prosecutors said the cell phone records showed.
Nearby surveillance cameras showed the young suspect, accompanied by the family's small black dog, driving the VW Atlas, court document said.
Records found at the victims' home showed that Mayer owned a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, though police didn't find that weapon at the house.
That gun, the victims' driver's licenses and spent shell casings were all found in the Atlas, prosecutors said.