Real Horror Story Comes to Close: Multiple Life Sentences for Man who Murdered Parents

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Closure for those left alive in San Juan Capistrano, a former college student who killed his parents and shot left his 8-year-old brother paralyzed over two years ago has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Ashton Colby Sachs, 22, was given multiple life prison terms during his sentencing hearing on Friday in Santa Ana. He was given multiple life prison terms by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Mike Murray said after the hearing that Sachs -- who also tried but failed to shoot one of his sisters -- would have to serve 100 years before he even began doing his life sentences.

The sentence "sends a very clear message to any governor" who might consider commuting the defendant's punishment, the prosecutor said.

Sachse appeared before Santa Ana court last month when he won the right to defend himself, then startled all by pleading guilty to all charges of murder and attempted murder.

Sachs also admitted special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and sentence-enhancing allegations of the personal use of a firearm causing death, personal use of a gun causing bodily injury and causing paralysis. Prosecutors decided against seeking the death penalty in this case, rather life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Sachs was 19-years-old when he killed his father, Bradford and mother Andra. The couple was found dead in their San Juan Capistrano residence at 2 a.m. on Feb. 9, 2014 at the 32000 block of Peppertree Bend.
He also shot his 8-year-old brother, Landon and shot at his 17-year-old sister, Alexis though she was not struck, according to authorities. A second sister was not harmed in the attack.

A motive for the crime has never been determined.

But Murray had his own theory on the motive.

"It's as simple as he's a sociopath," Murray told reporters after the hearing. "He was going to college, mom was paying for everything and the gravy train was probably going to come to an end."

Murray told Prickett that Sachs wasn't attending his college classes, preferring to "sit in his condo his mom bought him, smoking pot and playing X- Box all day."

The defendant "was raised in a loving family and a life of privilege," Murray told the judge.

Sachs ran into trouble in high school when he was found in possession of a knife, Murray said. "Shortly afterward, he was found shooting birds," the prosecutor said.

He doesn't buy the defendant's claim that he was feeling suicidal at the time.

"The murder weapon was a rifle," Murray said. "No one would kill themselves with a rifle when they could get a handgun."

Murray said Sachs "had the audacity to eulogize his parents at their funeral."

Murray also pointed out that Sachs decided to represent himself legally so he could get special privileges like phone use, which he used to "barter" with other inmates "to make three-way calls."

When Prickett asked Sachs if he wanted to make a statement, he shook his head and said, "No, your honor."
Prickett went over the details of the crime, pointing out that the defendant shot his father 12 times, including in the face; pumped 10 bullets into his mother; and shot his "younger, helpless brother" as he slept.

Sachs drove to Orange County from the Seattle area because he knew he could not get a gun on a flight, Prickett said. After the shootings, he caught a flight back to Seattle and arranged to have the car shipped back there, Prickett said.

Two of the murdered couple's daughters were in the residence at the time of the shootings, but they were unable to identify the killer that night.

According to Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh, who filed the case against Sachs, Ashton Sachs returned from Seattle to Orange County with the intention of murdering his family. After the shooting, he fled back to Seattle. Investigators from Orange County Sheriff's Department arrested Sachs for the murder of his parents and shooting of his brother on March 6, 2014.

Phone records, witness statements and other evidence ultimately pointedto their son, Baytieh said. Sachs was acting as his own attorney when he decided to plead guilty --a move that caught prosecutors by surprise.

Sachs wrote a couple of letters to Murray asking for leniency to push back the trial date, but the prosecutor did not respond.

"I think it (the plea) was a good result out of a tragic situation," Murray said, adding that he's glad the defendant's siblings don't have to go through testifying at a trial.

As for why the defendant attacked his family, Murray said he "couldn't begin to try to figure out what motivated him."

Even if Sachs was motivated by some turmoil between his parents when they split up while Sachs was a child, it still wouldn't explain why he would try to kill his siblings, Murray said.

"I'll never be able to fathom that," he said.

Sachs' court-appointed investigator, Alfredo Rasch, said the defendant pleaded guilty to spare his family any more anguish that a trial would bring.

"He wants his family to have peace," Rasch told City News Service. "He wants to let it sleep, not because of him, but for his family."

City News Service contributed to this report. Orange County Sheriff's Department Booking Photo, Ashton Sachs