He killed his grandparents so he and his fiance could move into their Key Peninsula home, records say
A 26-year-old man plotted with his fiancee to kill his grandparents so the couple could start a commune at the grandparents’ house on Key Peninsula, according to court documents.
Firefighters were called Sunday to a home in the 18800 block of Bayview Road NW in Vaughn and found the house engulfed in flames.
The bodies of a 71-year-old man and his 73-year-old wife were found lying side by side in the basement.
Investigators were suspicious because the victims were “positioned as if their bodies had been dragged down the stairs,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
Five gas cans, a bloody mattress and evidence of a propane explosion also were discovered.
The grandmother appeared to have suffered stab wounds to her neck, and the grandfather had stab wounds to the chest, records say.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office has not identified the victims or determined a cause of death.
Missing from the Vaughn home were the couple’s Nissan Sentra and their grandson, Ezra Fleming Ralston.
Ralston’s mother told detectives her son was “not mentally well” and asked them to help find him.
His father told investigators Ralston called him earlier that day to say his grandparents had fevers and sore throats.
“The defendant’s father stated he was concerned and wanted to speak to his parents, but the defendant said he couldn’t get them to the phone,” according to charging papers.
Ralston’s father asked him to call 911 and have an ambulance take his grandparents to a hospital.
Through an exchange of text messages, Ralston allegedly told his father his grandparents were being treated at a hospital, were in a “safe zone” and were being kept overnight for observation, records say.
Not long afterward, a neighbor called Ralston’s father to tell him the Vaughn house was on fire.
His son did not answer his phone call.
Police later found the victims’ Nissan Sentra outside a Lakewood apartment complex where Ralston’s fiancee lived with her mother.
Ralston, who was found inside, was taken into custody and told deputies, “I have an excuse for all of it,” records say.
On Wednesday, prosecutors charged him and his fiancee, 22-year-old Rebecka Neubauer, with two counts of first-degree aggravated murder.
Both pleaded not guilty at arraignment Thursday. Superior Court Judge James Orlando ordered them held without bail.
Neubauer’s mother told investigators she’d heard her daughter “make a ‘joke’ about defendant Ralston killing his grandparents so she and Ralston could move into their home,” according to charging papers.
Neubauer admitted talking about killing Ralston’s grandparents and said she can be “morbid,” records say.
Messages between Ralston and Neubauer allegedly were discovered with the couple discussing plans to start a commune, how to cover up the murders and how to dispose of the victims’ bodies.
When Ralston would express frustration, Neubauer would express her love and say, “You’re so amazing, you got this,” records say.
“It appears defendant Ralston wanted to kill his grandparents to take over their house,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
On Wednesday night, deputies arrested Neubauer.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 9:19 AM.
