Wisconsin
Man pleads guilty to killing parents to fund Trump assassination plot
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of killing his parents and stealing their money to fund a plan to assassinate President Donald Trump pleaded guilty to two homicide counts in a deal with prosecutors Thursday, locking himself into two life prison sentences.
Nikita Casap, 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in Waukesha County Circuit Court in connection with the deaths of his stepfather, Donald Mayer, and his mother, Tatiana Casap, last year. In exchange, prosecutors dropped seven other charges, including two counts of hiding a corpse and theft.
Each homicide count carries a mandatory life prison sentence. Judge Ralph Ramirez could choose to make Casap eligible for parole after he serves 20 years on each count when he is sentenced on March 5.
Casap trembled in his seat at the defense table as Ramirez asked him if he understood the ramifications of his pleas and whether he shot his mother and Mayer. He responded “Yes, your honor” to everything.
Casap’s attorney, public defender Joseph Rifelj, spoke only to confirm the terms of the plea agreement with Ramirez and to say that he had sufficient time to speak with Casap about it. Rifelj left the hearing without speaking to reporters.
District Attorney Lesli Boese told reporters outside court that her goal was to force Casap to accept responsibility for his parents’ deaths and two mandatory life sentences amount to sufficient punishment.
She said she will push Ramirez to deny Casap any chance at parole. She said Casap is a “danger to the community and that she didn’t want to take any chances that he could be rehabilitated.
According to a criminal complaint, investigators believe Casap shot his stepfather and mother at their home in the village of Waukesha on or around Feb. 11.
He lived with the decomposing bodies for weeks before fleeing across the country in his stepfather’s SUV with $14,000 in cash, jewelry, passports, his stepfather’s gun and the family dog, according to the complaint. He was eventually arrested during a traffic stop in Kansas on Feb. 28.
Federal authorities have accused Casap of planning his parents’ murders, buying a drone and explosives and sharing his plans with others, including a Russian speaker. They said in a federal search warrant that he wrote a manifest calling for Trump’s assassination and was in touch with others about his plan to kill Trump and overthrow the U.S. government.
“The killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan,” that warrant said.
Detectives found several messages on Casap’s cellphone from January 2025 in which Casap asks how long he will have to hide before he is moved to Ukraine. An unknown individual responded in Russian, the complaint said, but the document doesn’t say what that person told Casap. In another message Casap asks: “So while in Ukraine, I’ll be able to live a normal life? Even if it’s found out I did it?”
Michigan
Former prison guard faces charges for sexual conduct
Former Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility Corrections Officer Joshua Lee, 22, of Wyandotte, was bound over to the 22nd Circuit Court in Washtenaw County on Jan. 6 on four counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (State Prisoner), each a 15-year felony, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. It is alleged that Lee engaged in multiple sexual acts with several prisoners while working at the prison. This matter was referred to the Department of Attorney General by the Michigan State Police.
Lee was charged by the Department of Attorney General in November 2025. The allegations in this matter include acts of sexual penetration. Michigan law currently criminalizes sexual contact by corrections officers, but there is no statute specifically addressing sexual penetration. As a result, officers can be charged under Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for contact and penetration offenses in the same way. Attorney General Nessel hopes the Michigan Legislature updates the law so that First and Third-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct statutes explicitly cover sexual penetration by corrections staff to better protect inmates and reflect the seriousness of these crimes.
Lee will next appear before Judge Arianne Slay in the 22nd Circuit Court on February 26.
Michigan
Ex-boyfriend of missing woman charged with first degree murder
Ex-boyfriend of missing Warren woman bound over for trial on all charges, including First Degree Murder
Deandre Booker, a 33-year-old Roseville man, was bound over to stand trial on all charges related to the alleged murder of his former girlfriend, Ashley Lashay Elkins, who disappeared on Thursday, January 2, 2025, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido. It is alleged that Booker killed Elkins while she was at his apartment in Roseville and disposed of her body.
At a hearing held on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, in the 39th District Court in Roseville, Judge Joseph F. Boedeker heard oral arguments from both the prosecution and defense regarding Deandre Booker, following the parties’ submission of briefs summarizing the evidence and their respective legal positions. The court had previously conducted a lengthy preliminary examination on August 6, 8, 15, and 22, 2025. After considering the record and the arguments presented, Judge Boedeker ruled that sufficient evidence exists to bind Booker over for trial on all counts.
Booker is charged with the following: First-Degree Premeditated Murder, a felony punishable by life without parole; Tampering with Evidence, a 10-year felony; Disinterment or Mutilation of a Dead Body, a 10-year felony; Concealing the Death of an Individual, a 5-year felony; and, from a related case, Lying to a Police Officer in a Violent Crime Investigation, a 4-year felony.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Carmen DeFranco and Carrie Seward represented the People.
Booker will be arraigned before Judge Joseph Toia at the Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens on Thursday, January 22, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. He is held in the Macomb County Jail without bond.
Michigan
Man faces charges related to alleged threats at elementary school
David Scott, Jr., 44, was bound over to circuit court on charges related to his alleged threats toward an elementary school in October 2025, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido.
On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, the preliminary examination for Scott was held before Judge Kathleen G. Galen at the 38th District Court in Eastpointe, MI. Following the hearing, Judge Galen bound Scott over to the circuit court on all charges. Scott will be arraigned before Judge Michael E. Servitto at the Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens, MI on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.
The hearing was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Julianne Beslic.
Scott is charged with the following: Weapons – Ammunition – Possession by a Prohibited Person, a 5-year felony; Schools – Intentional Threat to Commit Act of Violence Against School, School Employees, or Students, a 1-year misdemeanor; and Disorderly Person – Obscene Conduct, a 90-day misdemeanor.
Scott also has a Habitual Offender - Fourth Offense Notice, an aggravating sentencing factor.
It is alleged that on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Scott arrived at Pleasantview Elementary at dismissal and became upset that his child did not receive a snack at snack time. He confronted the child’s teacher, made threats and said he would be back the next day. A search warrant was issued to search his residence where multiple rounds of ammunition were found.
California
Judge: Elon Musk’s fraud lawsuit against OpenAI will head to trial
A federal judge on Wednesday indicated a jury will be allowed to decide whether artificial intelligence trailblazer OpenAI hoodwinked its billionaire co-founder Elon Musk during its evolution from a nonprofit research lab into a capitalistic enterprise now valued at $500 billion.
Without issuing an official ruling, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers made it clear that she intended to reject OpenAI’s motion to dismiss a 17-month-old case that Musk filed against a San Francisco startup that he helped create in 2015.
“This case is going to trial,” Gonzalez Rogers said emphatically during an occasionally testy 90-minute hearing held in Oakland, California.
The judge said she still needed to figure out some of the logistics of how the trial will be set up, as well as whether to dismiss unjust enrichment allegations that Musk has made against Microsoft, which has accumulated a $135 billion stake in OpenAI since investing $1 billion in a for-profit subsidiary that the startup created in 2019.
But the judge told lawyers that there is sufficient evidence for a jury to consider in a legal showdown pitting Musk — the world’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $713 billion — against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose fortune is currently pegged at $2 billion. Both billionaires would likely be summoned to court to testify under oath if the trial proceeds.
“Part of this is about whether a jury believes the people who will testify and whether they are credible,” Gonzalez Rogers said.
It’s unclear when the judge will schedule the trial.
The case revolves around OpenAI’s origins as a nonprofit research lab that Musk and Altman launched to develop artificial intelligence designed primarily for the good of humanity. That mission, the two founders believed, could serve as a foil to AI being developed by Google and other profit-driven companies that, they claimed, could deploy the technology recklessly as they strived to make more money.
Musk contributed $40 million, mostly funneled through donor-advised funds that he had set up, in addition to four Tesla vehicles. Then he and Altman had a falling out over OpenAI’s future, according to evidence that has surfaced so far.
At that point, Musk began to suspect that Altman and another OpenAI executive, Greg Brockman, might be plotting to transform the research lab into a profit-seeking company, according to evidence submitted to the judge.
Although Altman sought to reassure Musk he remained committed to OpenAI’s non-profit mission, Musk decided to cut ties with the startup and eventually launched a rival, xAI, that was valued at $230 billion in a just-completed fundraising.
A 2017 diary entry by OpenAI’s Brockman was among the information that Gonzalez Rogers cited to support her rationale for allowing Musk’s lawsuit to go to trial.
In the diary, Brockman mused about his desire to become a billionaire and wrote, “We’ve been thinking that maybe we should just flip to a for profit. Making the money for us sounds great and all,” according to court filings.
At one point, OpenAI’s own board of directors had serious enough misgivings about Altman’s motives to trigger his firing in 2023 before quickly bringing him back as CEO in a comeback that Microsoft helped orchestrate.
One of the key issues that must be decided before Musk can pursue his fraud claims against OpenAI at trial is pinpointing when the alleged deceit occurred. That’s because there’s a three-year statute of limitations on his fraud claims.
Gonzalez Rogers indicated she will probably let a jury first decide when the alleged fraud against Musk occurred. The trial then would be allowed to proceed to the fraud phase if it’s determined that the suspected deceit began less than three years before Musk’s August 2024 filing of his lawsuit.
Man pleads guilty to killing parents to fund Trump assassination plot
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of killing his parents and stealing their money to fund a plan to assassinate President Donald Trump pleaded guilty to two homicide counts in a deal with prosecutors Thursday, locking himself into two life prison sentences.
Nikita Casap, 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in Waukesha County Circuit Court in connection with the deaths of his stepfather, Donald Mayer, and his mother, Tatiana Casap, last year. In exchange, prosecutors dropped seven other charges, including two counts of hiding a corpse and theft.
Each homicide count carries a mandatory life prison sentence. Judge Ralph Ramirez could choose to make Casap eligible for parole after he serves 20 years on each count when he is sentenced on March 5.
Casap trembled in his seat at the defense table as Ramirez asked him if he understood the ramifications of his pleas and whether he shot his mother and Mayer. He responded “Yes, your honor” to everything.
Casap’s attorney, public defender Joseph Rifelj, spoke only to confirm the terms of the plea agreement with Ramirez and to say that he had sufficient time to speak with Casap about it. Rifelj left the hearing without speaking to reporters.
District Attorney Lesli Boese told reporters outside court that her goal was to force Casap to accept responsibility for his parents’ deaths and two mandatory life sentences amount to sufficient punishment.
She said she will push Ramirez to deny Casap any chance at parole. She said Casap is a “danger to the community and that she didn’t want to take any chances that he could be rehabilitated.
According to a criminal complaint, investigators believe Casap shot his stepfather and mother at their home in the village of Waukesha on or around Feb. 11.
He lived with the decomposing bodies for weeks before fleeing across the country in his stepfather’s SUV with $14,000 in cash, jewelry, passports, his stepfather’s gun and the family dog, according to the complaint. He was eventually arrested during a traffic stop in Kansas on Feb. 28.
Federal authorities have accused Casap of planning his parents’ murders, buying a drone and explosives and sharing his plans with others, including a Russian speaker. They said in a federal search warrant that he wrote a manifest calling for Trump’s assassination and was in touch with others about his plan to kill Trump and overthrow the U.S. government.
“The killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan,” that warrant said.
Detectives found several messages on Casap’s cellphone from January 2025 in which Casap asks how long he will have to hide before he is moved to Ukraine. An unknown individual responded in Russian, the complaint said, but the document doesn’t say what that person told Casap. In another message Casap asks: “So while in Ukraine, I’ll be able to live a normal life? Even if it’s found out I did it?”
Michigan
Former prison guard faces charges for sexual conduct
Former Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility Corrections Officer Joshua Lee, 22, of Wyandotte, was bound over to the 22nd Circuit Court in Washtenaw County on Jan. 6 on four counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (State Prisoner), each a 15-year felony, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. It is alleged that Lee engaged in multiple sexual acts with several prisoners while working at the prison. This matter was referred to the Department of Attorney General by the Michigan State Police.
Lee was charged by the Department of Attorney General in November 2025. The allegations in this matter include acts of sexual penetration. Michigan law currently criminalizes sexual contact by corrections officers, but there is no statute specifically addressing sexual penetration. As a result, officers can be charged under Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for contact and penetration offenses in the same way. Attorney General Nessel hopes the Michigan Legislature updates the law so that First and Third-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct statutes explicitly cover sexual penetration by corrections staff to better protect inmates and reflect the seriousness of these crimes.
Lee will next appear before Judge Arianne Slay in the 22nd Circuit Court on February 26.
Michigan
Ex-boyfriend of missing woman charged with first degree murder
Ex-boyfriend of missing Warren woman bound over for trial on all charges, including First Degree Murder
Deandre Booker, a 33-year-old Roseville man, was bound over to stand trial on all charges related to the alleged murder of his former girlfriend, Ashley Lashay Elkins, who disappeared on Thursday, January 2, 2025, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido. It is alleged that Booker killed Elkins while she was at his apartment in Roseville and disposed of her body.
At a hearing held on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, in the 39th District Court in Roseville, Judge Joseph F. Boedeker heard oral arguments from both the prosecution and defense regarding Deandre Booker, following the parties’ submission of briefs summarizing the evidence and their respective legal positions. The court had previously conducted a lengthy preliminary examination on August 6, 8, 15, and 22, 2025. After considering the record and the arguments presented, Judge Boedeker ruled that sufficient evidence exists to bind Booker over for trial on all counts.
Booker is charged with the following: First-Degree Premeditated Murder, a felony punishable by life without parole; Tampering with Evidence, a 10-year felony; Disinterment or Mutilation of a Dead Body, a 10-year felony; Concealing the Death of an Individual, a 5-year felony; and, from a related case, Lying to a Police Officer in a Violent Crime Investigation, a 4-year felony.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Carmen DeFranco and Carrie Seward represented the People.
Booker will be arraigned before Judge Joseph Toia at the Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens on Thursday, January 22, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. He is held in the Macomb County Jail without bond.
Michigan
Man faces charges related to alleged threats at elementary school
David Scott, Jr., 44, was bound over to circuit court on charges related to his alleged threats toward an elementary school in October 2025, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido.
On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, the preliminary examination for Scott was held before Judge Kathleen G. Galen at the 38th District Court in Eastpointe, MI. Following the hearing, Judge Galen bound Scott over to the circuit court on all charges. Scott will be arraigned before Judge Michael E. Servitto at the Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens, MI on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.
The hearing was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Julianne Beslic.
Scott is charged with the following: Weapons – Ammunition – Possession by a Prohibited Person, a 5-year felony; Schools – Intentional Threat to Commit Act of Violence Against School, School Employees, or Students, a 1-year misdemeanor; and Disorderly Person – Obscene Conduct, a 90-day misdemeanor.
Scott also has a Habitual Offender - Fourth Offense Notice, an aggravating sentencing factor.
It is alleged that on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Scott arrived at Pleasantview Elementary at dismissal and became upset that his child did not receive a snack at snack time. He confronted the child’s teacher, made threats and said he would be back the next day. A search warrant was issued to search his residence where multiple rounds of ammunition were found.
California
Judge: Elon Musk’s fraud lawsuit against OpenAI will head to trial
A federal judge on Wednesday indicated a jury will be allowed to decide whether artificial intelligence trailblazer OpenAI hoodwinked its billionaire co-founder Elon Musk during its evolution from a nonprofit research lab into a capitalistic enterprise now valued at $500 billion.
Without issuing an official ruling, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers made it clear that she intended to reject OpenAI’s motion to dismiss a 17-month-old case that Musk filed against a San Francisco startup that he helped create in 2015.
“This case is going to trial,” Gonzalez Rogers said emphatically during an occasionally testy 90-minute hearing held in Oakland, California.
The judge said she still needed to figure out some of the logistics of how the trial will be set up, as well as whether to dismiss unjust enrichment allegations that Musk has made against Microsoft, which has accumulated a $135 billion stake in OpenAI since investing $1 billion in a for-profit subsidiary that the startup created in 2019.
But the judge told lawyers that there is sufficient evidence for a jury to consider in a legal showdown pitting Musk — the world’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $713 billion — against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose fortune is currently pegged at $2 billion. Both billionaires would likely be summoned to court to testify under oath if the trial proceeds.
“Part of this is about whether a jury believes the people who will testify and whether they are credible,” Gonzalez Rogers said.
It’s unclear when the judge will schedule the trial.
The case revolves around OpenAI’s origins as a nonprofit research lab that Musk and Altman launched to develop artificial intelligence designed primarily for the good of humanity. That mission, the two founders believed, could serve as a foil to AI being developed by Google and other profit-driven companies that, they claimed, could deploy the technology recklessly as they strived to make more money.
Musk contributed $40 million, mostly funneled through donor-advised funds that he had set up, in addition to four Tesla vehicles. Then he and Altman had a falling out over OpenAI’s future, according to evidence that has surfaced so far.
At that point, Musk began to suspect that Altman and another OpenAI executive, Greg Brockman, might be plotting to transform the research lab into a profit-seeking company, according to evidence submitted to the judge.
Although Altman sought to reassure Musk he remained committed to OpenAI’s non-profit mission, Musk decided to cut ties with the startup and eventually launched a rival, xAI, that was valued at $230 billion in a just-completed fundraising.
A 2017 diary entry by OpenAI’s Brockman was among the information that Gonzalez Rogers cited to support her rationale for allowing Musk’s lawsuit to go to trial.
In the diary, Brockman mused about his desire to become a billionaire and wrote, “We’ve been thinking that maybe we should just flip to a for profit. Making the money for us sounds great and all,” according to court filings.
At one point, OpenAI’s own board of directors had serious enough misgivings about Altman’s motives to trigger his firing in 2023 before quickly bringing him back as CEO in a comeback that Microsoft helped orchestrate.
One of the key issues that must be decided before Musk can pursue his fraud claims against OpenAI at trial is pinpointing when the alleged deceit occurred. That’s because there’s a three-year statute of limitations on his fraud claims.
Gonzalez Rogers indicated she will probably let a jury first decide when the alleged fraud against Musk occurred. The trial then would be allowed to proceed to the fraud phase if it’s determined that the suspected deceit began less than three years before Musk’s August 2024 filing of his lawsuit.
