Crime & Safety
Cellphone Leads Investigators to the Suspect in the Sachs Family Murder
The Orange County Grand Jury transcripts reveal new details.
Detailed allegations emerged today, showing how investigators linked Ashton Sachs to the murder of his parents in a San Juan Capistrano mansion in February.
Transcripts for the Orange County Grand Jury, which indicted Sachs last month, reveal that it was the 20-year-old's cell phone that put him on investigators' radar, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The transcripts offer several new revelations, including:
- Sachs researched several online articles about the different degrees of murder
- He made arrangements to have his car transported back to Seattle
- Once inside his parents' home and armed with a rifle, he paced for 15 minutes, contemplating whether he could really follow through
- He shot his mom eight times, his dad seven times, then went to his 8-year-old brother's room, shooting the boy twice and leaving him paralyzed. He shot at his sister once, but missed
- After the shooting, he went to his parents' business, where a taxi shuttled him to John Wayne Airport; the then caught a plane back to Seattle
- He arranged for a service to transport his Prius back to Seattle
The Times wrote:
Justin Montano, an investigator with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, testified that Sachs told authorities that he had been feeling “horrible,” believing he had messed up his life, and wanted to kill his parents because he blamed them for how he felt.
“He said that he felt like his parents didn’t trust him and that he was the least favorite child out of the family,” Montano testified.
Read the entire story here.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here
