Ethan Orton during his sentencing hearing for the murders of his parents (YouTube screenshots)
A 19-year-old man in Iowa will spend at least half a century behind bars for stabbing both of his parents with a Bowie knife – killing his father – and then using an ax to finish off his mother when he realized she had survived the initial stab wound.
Sixth Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill on Monday ordered Ethan Orton to serve life in prison with the possibility of parole after 50 years, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
Judge Thornhill technically sentenced Orton to two life sentences – one for each of his parents – but elected to have the teenager serve them simultaneously.
Orton pleaded guilty in February to two counts of first-degree murder in the gruesome 2021 murders of his parents, Misty Scott-Slade and Casey Orton. While Iowa state law generally requires first-degree murder convictions to come with mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole, Orton was a minor — just five months shy of his 18th birthday. – at the time of the crime.
Following precedent set by the United States Supreme Court in 2012, Iowa’s highest court in 2016 banned life sentences without parole for minors.
Monday’s sentencing hearing
According to a report by The Gazette, Orton’s defense attorney has requested a life sentence with the possibility of parole in 10 years. He argued that Orton’s parents had emotionally abused him for years and planned to cut ties with him when he turned 18.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, reportedly pointed out that Orton had never been diagnosed with a mental illness and pointed out that the ‘heinous’ attack on his parents was premeditated and showed a rational thought process as he disposed his weapons in advance and waited for them to fall asleep before the massacres.
Ultimately, Thorton estimated that Orton was nearly 18 at the time of the murders, the lack of physical or sexual abuse, and the brutal, planned nature of the attack by imposing a 50-year minimum sentence on the sentence, according to The Gazette.
Speaking on his behalf, Orton told the court he had come to regret what he had done, but said he had finally “made peace” with it.
“I even said I’d give my left arm just to get them both back, see what I could do, but I had to realize that’s what it is today, and luckily I made peace with it,” he said, according to CBS News.
The double murder
The Cedar Rapids Police Department said it received a call on October 14, 2021 at approximately 2:10 a.m. regarding a suspicious person at 361 Carnaby Drive NE. Once there, first responders found Ethan Orton sitting outside covered in blood.
According to the criminal complaint, he quickly admitted to killing his parents, and police located both bodies inside the house.
Police say that in an interview with detectives, Orton said he killed his parents to “take charge of his life”.
From the complaint:
Officers transported the accused to the police station for questioning where he admitted to killing his parents to “take charge of his life”. He said he used a knife to stab them and then used an ax to kill his mother when it appeared she was still alive after the first attack.
One thing in particular that would have triggered Orton was an email from his mother about cutting him out of their life.
“The email basically said, ‘When you turn 18, you’re out of the house. We’re done with you. Plan to leave,” said Dr. Tracy Thomas, a forensic psychologist who testified on Monday. “This infraction was the result, essentially, of a complete breakdown.”
Orton will be 67 when he is first eligible for parole.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
Do you have a tip we should know? [email protected]