Grandson of Key Peninsula couple murdered in fiery 4-person plot gets life in prison
A hearing for a 29-year-old man facing two life sentences for murdering his grandparents in 2020 as part of a four-person conspiracy to take their Vaughn property and start a commune ran high on emotions Friday.
Family of the victims, friends and Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen excoriated Ezra Fleming Ralston for the “ridiculous” and “stupid” plot he, his girlfriend Rebecka Neubauer, Spencer Kleine and Sean Higgins undertook in 2019 and 2020 to kill Ted Ralston and Joanna Gormly, then burn their house to cover up their crimes.
The May 17, 2020 murders shocked the Key Peninsula, where Ted Ralston, 71, and Joanna Gormly, 73, were well known and involved in civic organizations and community activities. The couple were longtime residents of their house on Bayview Road, and those who knew them have told The News Tribune they sacrificed much for their grandsons.
Tossing his eyeglasses to the bench, Sorensen called the case unbelievable and told Ezra Ralston the life sentence he was receiving was a gift — of life. He said he believes in the justice system, but one limitation is that it comes into play after something has happened.
“We don’t have a mechanism for reading minds or knowing dark and evil thoughts,” Sorensen said.
Ralston was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without possibility of parole, plus 26 years in prison. Kleine, 26, attended the hearing in custody and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder as part of an agreement with the state. Sorensen sentenced him to 45 years in prison, five years longer than the defense and prosecutors agreed to recommend.
Neubauer, 25, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, and she was ordered to 33 years, four months in prison. Higgins, 26, who prosecutors said was convicted in a joint trial with Ezra Ralston, is to be sentenced Aug. 18.
Ezra Ralston and Higgins were both found guilty of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of first-degree murder. Ezra Ralston’s conviction included first-degree arson for burning his grandparents home in the 18800 block of Bayview Road NW. Deputy prosecuting attorney Kawyne Lund said state law dictates Higgins will also get a life sentence.
“This is a case I will never forget. And it’s ridiculous that those two people are not here with us,” Lund said of the victims.
‘All their sacrifices were for nothing’
Of the four friends and family of Ted Ralston and Joanna Gormly who spoke during Ezra Ralston’s hearing, most spoke not only of the “nonsensical violence” they endured at the hands of their grandchild, but also of the lengths the couple went to for him. John Kirry, a nearly lifelong friend of Ted, said he and Joanna did everything they could to create a better life for Ezra.
Ezra Ralston, originally from near Austin, Texas, graduated from high school there in 2012, according to court filings from the defense. Kirry said Ezra’s grandfather moved to Texas for months during the boy’s senior year to help get him through school. Ezra began attending St. Mary’s College in San Antonio the same year, but he was asked to leave within months when he repeatedly did not attend classes.
Kirry said Ted and Joanna also saved money to purchase an investment property in the hopes they could one day sell it to use for college expenses. Ken Gormly, Joanna’s brother, said the couple were vibrant people who put their retirement plans of traveling on hold to try to help their grandson.
“All their sacrifices were for nothing,” Kirry said.
Ted Ralston was a retired computer security expert who once worked for the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Clinton-Gore White House transition team, according to previous reporting from The News Tribune. Gormly was fluent in Russian, had trained as a respiratory therapist and volunteered with a Key Peninsula health clinic. Key Peninsula News reported that the two also regularly performed as part of a band called The Mind Blenders at the now-closed Blend Wine Shop in Key Center later in life.
Commune idea came during pandemic
Ezra Ralston lived with his grandparents on and off from 2014 to 2020, but the idea of starting a commune didn’t begin to germinate until the coronavirus pandemic, when he wasn’t allowed to visit his girlfriend or have her over at his grandparents home, according to a forensic psychological evaluation requested by his attorneys.
He met Neubauer on an app in 2015, and they began dating the next year. Ezra Ralston’s emotional attachment to Neubauer reportedly deepened in 2019 and 2020, and when the pandemic began, he could see her very little. Ralston reported being frustrated about the situation.
He reportedly talked to 10 people who might be interested in a commune, but finding land was difficult. According to the psychological report, Ezra was at one point asked about the idea of taking his grandparents property, and he only said he wanted to please Neubauer and have a place with her. His girlfriend reportedly replied something to the effect of:
“If they died naturally, then I would inherit the house … it was a joke, like, if they would pass away. That was something I did not want to think about, but it would be convenient to have the house to live in.”
According to the defense, Ralston was in mental health treatment in Tacoma 2016-2017 and again in 2019 and 2020. He received several diagnoses, including major depressive disorder, schizophrenia spectrum, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, possible PTSD and possible bipolar disorder.
Conspirators awaited signal in Vaughn cemetery
Prosecutors wrote in court filings that Ralston began conspiring to kill his grandparents as early as 2019. He messaged a person who eventually backed out about his plans.
“I really need to kill my grandparents, but also kinda need to do it in a way that lets me use their resources without getting caught,” the defendant wrote.
In the weeks leading up to the killings, prosecutors said all four defendants communicated on Facebook and the video game messaging platform Discord. Kleine wrote that Higgins was acquiring “hardware for the job.” And after midnight on May 17, Ralston messaged his girlfriend that his grandparents were still awake, but Kleine and Higgins were on their way.
Kleine later testified that when they arrived, he and Higgins sat in the dark behind the house at Vaughn Bay Cemetery, waiting for a signal from Ralston, according to two who attended the trial. Kleine said Friday that he wished he had done more to stop it.
About 18 hours after the murders, Key Peninsula firefighters were called to the house for reports of a fire and found the structure engulfed in flames. Prosecutors said fire personnel found Ted Ralston and Joanna Gormly’s bodies side by side in the basement of the home. The Pierce County Medical Examiner determined Ted’s cause of death was sharp force injury to the torso, and Joanna’s cause of death was sharp and blunt force injuries to the neck.
Before his sentence was handed down, Ezra Ralston said he had no excuses for his words and actions. Reading from a piece of paper, he said his anger with his grandparents was unfounded, and he can’t explain what he did, but he is filled with remorse and regret. Ralston said the event never should have happened, and he should have put a stop to it.
“I dream about them,” Ralston said of his grandparents. “And the house. I dream about our family still being together for the holidays. And when I wake up, the reality of what happened crushes me anew, a fresh reminder of the pain that I’ve caused to so many others.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the offense Spencer Kleine pleaded guilty to.
This story was originally published June 19, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
