- [Narrator] What is up EWU Crew?
Today, we're covering
the disturbing murder
of Andra and Bradford Sachs.
Our story begins in
the middle of the night
on February 9th, 2014.
It had been an evening like any other
in the jewel of the
California Missions town
of San Juan Capistrano,
located in the heart
of Orange County, California.
Andra and Bradford
Sachs despite having had
their relationship issues in the past,
were a business-minded couple
living in Southern California.
On that particular night in February,
the Sachs finished their
respective days at work,
and returned to their
three-story hillside mansion
to have dinner with their children.
At the time, Andra was 54 years old,
and Brad had just turned 57.
The Sachs family had always
had a house full of children
as they felt so lucky
in their material wealth
that they wanted to feel
equally blessed with a family.
Their two eldest sons Miles who was 21,
and Ashton who was 19,
had both moved to Seattle,
Washington for University.
So the house was quieter than usual.
Their younger children,
17 year old Alexis,
15 year old Lana, and
eight year old Landon,
were still providing their parents
with a handful of activities,
although their older
brothers were away at school.
The family sat together at the
dining room table for dinner,
talking about their highs
and lows of the week
after a hearty meal and some conversation,
the children went their separate ways
of their massive home for bedtime.
The second youngest Lana
slept in her bedroom,
with two of the families three dogs,
while Landon and Alexis
slept in their bedrooms
on a different house floor.
Brad and Andra who had recently
gone through the motions
of getting a divorce
before deciding against it,
were still mending their marriage.
The couple climbed into
their shared bed together
and found themselves drifting off to sleep
in the quiet of their bedroom.
At the time, not one
member of the Sachs family
knew what kind of irreparable nightmare
was about to hit them.
Around 1:30 in the morning,
an intruder let himself
into the Sachs' mansion unannounced.
As most of the family's dogs
were sleeping with Lana,
and the other was in its crate.
There was no way for
the family to have known
that they were in any sort of danger.
The intruder successfully made it through
the Sachs home security system,
and entered the house
without so much as a peep.
The intruder looked around
the home for a few moments,
surveying the layout and
locating his targets.
When he finally came
across the master bedroom,
where Andra and Bradford slept,
he quietly let himself in.
The intruder stood at the
end of the couple's bed,
looming over them, as
he watched them sleep.
After taking a deep breath,
he held up the 22 he had been carrying,
and aimed it at the peacefully
oblivious Andra and Brad.
Without faltering, the
intruder fired 12 times.
After completing what
he had intended to do,
the intruder felt a certain
urge of adrenaline pulse
through his body.
When he exited the master bedroom,
and began to bound down the hallway,
he was faced with a terrified
a concerned Landon Sachs
in fear of having a witness.
The intruder fired at Landon in the torso,
with the intent to kill him,
as the sound of the commotion continued
to sound off through the mansion,
17 year old Alexis began
to stir from her bedroom
before she could fully understand
what was going on in the hallway,
she found herself ducking under her covers
as the intruder fired in her direction.
Miraculously, she managed
to avoid being struck
when silence fell upon the household,
and she felt it was safe enough
to emerge from her room.
She found both of her parents
deceased in their bedroom,
and her brother struggling to
hold onto his consciousness.
Just like that, the intruder disappeared.
He left behind a broken home,
a paralyzed eight year old,
and four other traumatized kids
who had lost both of their parents,
in a span of one brutal night.
And the week following the
attack on the Sachs family,
Orange County officers worked diligently
to find the monster who
caused them so much harm.
Outside of the investigation
the family was forced
to face their new reality.
Upon hearing the news of
their parents' murder,
Myles and Ashton immediately went back
to San Juan Capistrano to
be with their siblings.
Landon, who had been shot in the torso,
miraculously survived the attack.
However, the bullet
had impacted his spine,
paralyzed him from the waist down.
His family sat by his side
throughout his slow recovery,
wondering how in the world
they had ended up in this position.
By the end of the week,
the five Sachs children,
were forced to bury their parents.
At the funeral all of
the remaining members
of the Sachs family were hysterical.
Still in shock from the turmoil
that had brought them to their new normal.
Various members of the family
eulogized Andra and Bradford
during their funeral.
The second eldest son Ashton, remarked,
"I really do believe that
both of their energy is alive,
and they will continue to
guide me throughout life.
As a kid I always thought I
had pretty awesome parents,
I don't know how or why
they were perfect parents,
other than that, everything they did,
was always for their children."
Ashton and Myles still
terrified for the sake
of the rest of the family,
knew it was up to them
to take care of their younger siblings
in the absence of their late parents.
Local police officers,
assured the Sachs family,
that they would find their parents killers
as soon as possible.
But noted that the entire
family should remain diligent.
There were many concerns
from various officials
who believed that killer
could potentially return
to finish off the rest of the family.
As Myles and Ashton were
old enough to understand
the cruel realities of the world,
they informed investigators
of ex-business partners
that could have potentially
wanted to kill their parents.
After all, their parents
were both business moguls
who knew when to get into deals,
and when to get out of them.
It was all too possible that they
had made some very significant
enemies along the way.
For all Orange County officials knew,
someone could have hired
a professional hitman
to get rid of Andra and Bradford.
And then some pieces
began to fall into place,
and some alibis began to fall apart.
Both Myles and Ashton lived in Washington,
around 20 hours away
from their parents' home.
And both of them had solid alibis
that supported their
claims that they were away
at their respective colleges
during the time of the murders.
That is until Orange County police
located Ashton's new white Prius parked
in a nearby parking lot
called Calle Perfecto.
Just minutes from the Sachs mansion.
The Prius, officials noted,
was a recent gift from his parents.
Inside a Prius was a 22 that
would have been similar to
if not a perfect match as what was used
in the murder of Andra and Bradford.
The car official soon realized
was about to be shipped back
to Seattle where Ashton was.
Further investigation into
Ashton's phone records
placed him in his parents' neighborhood,
the night of the murders,
head back in Seattle the next morning.
The family and local community
alike were utterly shocked
to find out that Ashton
Sachs had been arrested
for the murder of his parents,
and the attempted murder of
his little brother and sister.
Ashton had no desire
to lie about the truth
behind the events.
In fact, he gave a full
detailed explanation
of what occurred on that fateful night
of February 9th, 2014.
Ashton remarked, that he had
been arguing with his mother
in the days leading up to the murders.
Over text, Andra expressed
her disappointment in Ashton
for forgetting to wish
his father happy birthday,
just two days prior.
In his response to his mother
over text, Ashton spat back,
"I forgot his birthday just
as much as he forgot his son."
It appeared to police
officials immediately
that there was some
form of growing tension
to have built up between
Ashton and his parents.
Despite all of the
pleasantries he had expressed
when eulogizing them at the funeral.
On the morning of February 8th,
Ashton had made the decision
to drive his white Prius,
18 hours down the West Coast
from Seattle to San Juan Capistrano.
Once he arrived, he sat in his parked car
in the Calle Perfecto
parking lot until nightfall.
Once he knew his family
would be tucked away
in their beds fast asleep,
he made the short drive to
their 8,784 square foot house,
and parked outside.
With his own key, he let
himself into his parents' home
without a sound.
- Around 2:00 am I drove up,
to the house.
I didn't even know what
I was doing really,
and then, I kinda went crazy.
(trembling)
I don't know how to describe it.
It was just my heart
was beating really fast,
and I wasn't, I don't
know, I wasn't like normal.
I wasn't even normal.
- [Narrator] Ashton told
officers that when he arrived
at his parents' home
around 1:30 in the morning,
he spent around 15
minutes pacing the length
of the living room,
thinking about what to do,
whether to go through with it.
Finally, he tracked it
through his parents' bedroom,
his original plan had
been to kill his parents,
and then take his own life.
When asked why he wanted
to murder his own family,
Ashton remarked that he
did not trust his parents,
and that they always made him feel
like the least favorite of their children.
- [Man] Describe your
relationship with your mom,
Andra, for me.
- I always thought she was like
the only person in the world
who really I could trust.
But she didn't care about me.
- [Man] How about your dad?
- He never really liked
me or just loved me.
We were never close.
He always mean to me and would try
to exclude me from things.
- [Man] What was it that made
you come to the conclusion
that what you chose to
do was your only option?
- I just thought I had to do it.
- [Narrator] There was
no evidence that Ashton
had made any attempt to take his own life.
However, he was distracted
with his younger siblings,
entered the hallway.
Ashton could provide no
reasoning to officers
as to why he shot his younger siblings.
After finishing what he intended to do,
Ashton quickly brushed out of the home,
hopped into his car and drove off.
He parked his car back
into Calle Perfecto lot,
knowing he needed to act
fast to get back to Seattle.
He took a taxi straight
from the parking lot
to the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana,
where he hopped on a flight
that will put him back
in Seattle by 10 in the morning.
When Ashton was arrested on March 6th,
less than a month after
murdering his parents
and paralyzing his
little brother for life,
his family was met with a betrayal,
unlike anything they had ever known.
They had collectively mourned
their parents together,
and Ashton had sat at the foot
of his little brother's
hospital bed for weeks,
crying about how Landon would have
to grow up without a father.
All along, Ashton had been the reason.
Ashton blamed his parents
for his depression,
stating over and over again to the media
that they caused him to
have a messed up life.
In prior years, Ashton had
tried to take his own life
after a breakup, and his parents had not
taken him seriously enough for his liking.
Orange County officials,
have asserted that Ashton
is a narcissistic child
of unearned privilege
who reacts violently
against those he proceeds
as thwarting his desires.
While on trial, Ashton
made the rush decision
to fire his attorney
and represent himself.
While doing so, he also
abruptly decided to plead guilty
for all of the crimes he had committed.
Ashton Colby Sachs was
sentenced to four life terms,
two of which without the
possibility of parole,
plus an additional 100 years
for the murder of his parents,
and the attempted murder of
his two younger siblings.
In the closing moments of the trial,
the senior deputy district
attorney noted clearly
"That the defendant is a sociopath.
He has no remorse, no empathy,
all he cares about is himself.
He is a manipulator."
The Sachs family continues
to repair themselves
from the inside out, but
they will never be able
to go back to the normal
life they once had.
Andra and Bradford Sachs were murdered
in their own home, in cold
blood by their own son.
The youngest son will never
be able to walk again,
all because of the
jealous and cruel actions
of his older brother,
someone who was supposed to protect him.
Yet, the remaining Sachs children
still hold onto the hope they have.
With the oldest brother
guiding them through life,
The Sachs family has done
their best to move on,
despite having to live
through the unimaginable.
