Indictment says college student killed parents inside family mansion

A 20-year-old college student has been indicted on suspicion of gunning down his parents inside their San Juan Capistrano mansion and then trying to kill two of his siblings as they slept.

Ashton Sachs, who had been living in Seattle at the time of the killings, will be arraigned Thursday on murder and attempted murder charges.

Authorities allege that Sachs entered his family home in the predawn hours of Feb. 9 and shot his parents, Bradford Hans Sachs, 57, and Andra Resa Sachs, 54, as they slept.

He then went into his younger brother’s bedroom and shot his 8-year-old brother, prosecutors said. The boy survived, but now is paralyzed.

Prosecutors said Ashton Sachs then went into another part of the house and shot at his 17-year-old sister, who was uninjured in the incident.

Ashton Sachs and other family members had been interviewed early in the investigation, but it wasn’t until later that authorities learned of information that pointed to Ashton Sachs as the suspect, authorities said.

After the shooting, Ashton Sachs and his older brother attempted to win custody of their siblings.

Ashton Sachs was arrested and charged in March in his parent’s deaths, but the indictment allows prosecutors to proceed straight to trial.

Ashton Sachs was indicted by an Orange County Grand Jury on two felony counts of special circumstances murder for multiple murders, as well as two felony counts of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation.

He also faces sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a firearm causing death, personal use of a firearm causing bodily injury and causing paralysis.

If convicted, Ashton Sachs faces a minimum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole and is eligible for the death penalty. He is being held without bail and will be arraigned Thursday at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

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