Prosecutors: WA woman plotted to kill ex-boyfriend, foiled by parents

Maple Valley, WA woman arrested in alleged murder plot

Deputies arrested a woman in Maple Valley in an alleged murder plot and it was caught on camera.

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. - A 19-year-old woman is charged with attempted murder after prosecutors say she crept up to her ex-boyfriend’s Maple Valley home armed with a shotgun and knife, intent on killing him before taking her own life.

The case began on the night of July 27, when prosecutors say Trinity Morley left a journal entry apologizing to her new boyfriend's family and describing her plan.

"I have the gun now, three rounds of buckshot. The shotgun is heavy. He told me that If I don't hold it right, my arm will get blown off. I have three chances to get this right and I don't want to resort to knives," she wrote.

Surveillance images believed to be 19-year-old Trinity Morley. (FOX 13 Seattle)

Parents foil WA murder-suicide plot

The backstory:

Her parents, alarmed after finding the journal and concerned about her behavior, called 911 to request a welfare check. Her father told the call taker that she had left their Kent home, possibly to graffiti her ex-boyfriend’s house, but prosecutors say she was on a far more sinister mission.

Surveillance footage later confirmed to be Morley, showed a hooded figure wearing a mask and carrying a shotgun, approaching her ex-boyfriend’s home while his family was inside. 

His father, watching the Ring security feed, dialed 911 after spotting the masked figure staring into the camera. He later told deputies that he rushed his family upstairs in fear for their lives.

Morley eventually backed away from the door, but deputies were already converging on the area. A King County sheriff’s drone located her on a dock nearby, still armed with the shotgun and a knife. Body camera footage shows deputies calmly calling to her in the darkness, using a flashlight and steady voices to persuade her to surrender and talk to them. 

She eventually complied, and was arrested without incident.

Dig deeper:

In court documents, prosecutors say Morley admitted she intended to kill her ex-boyfriend and then force a fatal confrontation with police. She reportedly told deputies she was upset after rape allegations she filed against him in May did not lead to charges. That case was closed by police as unfounded.

Investigators also recovered writings Morley addressed to her current boyfriend, where she apologized for lying to him in order to obtain the shotgun. She allegedly told him she needed it for protection, but instead carried it to her ex-boyfriend’s home.

Prosecutors noted that Morley’s demeanor after her arrest was 'eerie'. They wrote that she smiled, rolled her eyes and even chuckled while in custody, at one point telling a deputy writing a narrative of events: "It’s a good story."

Her ex-boyfriend, who was not home at the time, told deputies he had not spoken to her in months. His father said he did not recognize the masked figure outside the home until deputies informed him of Morley’s arrest.

Morley is charged with first-degree attempted murder and is being held in the King County Jail on $500,000 bail.

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