In a case that shocked the US, a teen was found to have killed his parents to fund Trump assassination plot. Nikita Casap lived with their decomposing bodies for two weeks
It was unusual for Nikita Casap, 17, not to turn up at school. He had a perfect attendance record and good grades. Staff had called the home Casap shared with his mum, Tatiana, 35, and his stepfather Donald Mayer, 51, but there was no reply. Casap had come to the US with his mum from Moldova when he was a first grader. Tatiana had been married to Donald for nine years and they all lived in a large luxury home in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
After two weeks of Casap not attending school, staff were so concerned that they called the police on February 28, 2025, and asked for a welfare check. Donald’s mum was also getting messages from her son that were not his usual tone or style. Donald’s boss had got a text on February 25 saying he was unwell but was also too unwell to talk.
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Officers went to the house and when they entered the property, there was a strong smell of decomposition. They discovered the dead bodies of Tatiana and Donald – they had been dead two weeks and had been shot. There was no sign of Casap, the family dog or Donald’s SUV.
At first, it appeared that Casap could have been in danger, but the evidence at the scene pointed to him being the threat. He had shot his parents to death on, or around, February 11. Donald had been shot in the back of the head while working at his desk. Tatiana had been shot three times as soon as she’d walked through the door after returning home from a night class.
Camera footage proved that Casap had been living at the house with his parents’ bodies for two weeks. He filmed entering the room to light candles around the body of his stepdad who was covered in blankets and had been dead around a week at that point. Casap can be heard saying ‘So you can see him there. I can literally see the rotting body there.’ Surveillance footage from inside the home showed him entering the rooms where the bodies were – and he took photos.
Casap had taken $14,000 in cash, passports, jewellery and the family dog, and had fled in Donald’s vehicle. Police circulated his details and he was apprehended in Kansas. Casap had the gun he’d used in clear view on the passenger footwell. While on the run, Casap had made several disturbing searches about serial killers and school mass shootings. But why had the perfect student killed his parents? The answer would be unbelievably shocking to everyone who worked on the case.
Police discovered that Casap had killed his parents as part of an elaborate plot to assassinate President Donald Trump. In late 2024. Casap had written a manifesto outlining the need for Trump’s death and how he wanted to overthrow the US government. At first the mission was to target Trump with an AK-47 rifle attached to a drone, then he decided he wanted to drop explosives from a drone – he said he didn’t care how many people got hurt in the attack.
Casap had been communicating with two people online who said they felt the same way. Police found messages on his phone showing he was in touch with someone who spoke Russian. Casap had sent them $8,700 in Bitcoin from his stepdad’s account to pay towards a drone and explosives which was needed for the plot – but it was going to cost more.
It was determined that Casap had killed his parents to get more money. Casap spoke to the Russian contact, asking how long he would have to hide before he would flee by ship to Ukraine. When interviewed by police, Casap said he had been waiting for instructions on how the assassination was going to be carried out when he did ‘the Tuesday thing.’ That was a reference to killing his parents.
Investigators looked into the alleged plot to kill Trump and discovered that Casap had been scammed. The whole plan was a hoax to get money from Casap – they saw him as an easy mark and never intended on providing a drone or explosives. After further investigation, no further arrests were made. At no point had they instructed Casap to kill his parents.
In January this year, Casap pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors dropped seven other charges as part of a plea deal, including two counts of hiding a corpse and theft. In March this year, Casap, 18, was sentenced. The convictions automatically carried a life sentence, but the judge would decide whether there was a chance of parole.
The court heard how Casap had decided to kill his parents for financial reasons and not at the request of two scam artists. ‘Never at any time did any of these people say ‘you need to kill your parents.’ It appears that was the defendant’s plan,’ the prosecution said. ‘I don’t know how that works into attacking a politician, but for him, he believed he needed to kill his parents before he left the residence.’
Casap’s lawyer said that the teenager had heard news of a doctor who drove his car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, in December 2024 and had killed six people. It had angered him so much, he decided to act and had started to visit chatrooms. The two people he had contacted convinced him that he was part of a larger military strategy. Casap made a statement. ‘What I did was vile,’ he said. ‘What I did was thoughtless. What I did was wrong… I thought I was part of a revolution. Part of a war. And I told myself that bad things had to happen in war.’
Donald’s brother Robert Kitchell said he spoke on behalf of the entire family who was all grieving over the double loss. ‘Their lives were taken in an act of senseless and unforgiveable violence,’ Robert said. ‘For more than a year, we have struggled to make sense of it. There is no reason that can justify such an ultimate dread. My family is forever broken. There will never be another holiday, celebration or gathering where we are whole again.’
The judge called the crime ‘horrific’ and ‘inexplicable.’ He handed Casap two life sentences with no chance of parole. It’s unclear why Casap didn’t just take money from his parents – they didn’t need to die. Perhaps they had found out about the money he’d already stolen or they’d discovered his plans. Whatever the case, two innocent people lost their lives in a completely senseless attack. Casap did end up making headlines but not in the way he expected.
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