Ashlee Anne Rose Martinson (born March 6, 1998) is an American woman convicted of the 2015 murders of her mother and stepfather, which she committed the day after her 17th birthday. Martinson's case received international attention. Martinson later pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree intentional homicide and was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Background

She remained estranged from her biological father and lived with her mother, stepfather, two stepsisters and a half sister. She had moved to

Rhinelander, Wisconsin Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,285 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area that eventually became the city of Rhine ...

with her family at age sixteen. Martinson was allegedly verbally abused by Thomas "Tony" Ayers, in the events leading up to his murder. He had also verbally and physically abused both his wife and his biological daughters in the household. These details were confirmed by her younger siblings. Martinson also claimed she had been physically abused and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

d for a period of two years by a former boyfriend of her mother's. During her interviews, experts believed she suffers from

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...

and depression. Thomas Ayers had previous convictions of kidnapping, sexual assault,

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

and various other charges. Although he was forbidden from owning firearms, he owned a variety, which were kept loaded, and reportedly easily accessible in the home.

Crime

On March 7, 2015, at their home in Peihl,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Martinson got into an argument with her mother and stepfather after they discovered she was in a relationship with a 22-year-old man, Ryan Sisco. They had sent messages to Sisco and threatened to seek legal consequences against him. Her car and phone privileges were revoked after the argument. The night the disturbance occurred, she wrote on her

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page "He's gonna kill her if she doesn't leave soon ..I want to kill him so fucking bad, take one of his guns and blow his fucking brains out." Police acknowledged that the murder may not have been premeditated, as that morning she had witnessed Ayers beating her mother. Martinson then ran to her room, Thomas banged on her door, afterwards, she shot and killed her stepfather with a shotgun. Her mother Jennifer Ayers came to investigate the gunshots. During this confrontation Martinson killed her mother with a knife. After the killings, Martinson had locked her younger siblings in a closet with a supply of food. One of the children had seen Thomas' body and doubted Martinson's denial that she had killed him. When first interviewed, Martinson claimed it was not her, but her mother, who had killed Thomas Ayers and she was attacked upon finding her mother standing over the corpse of her stepfather and killed her mother in

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

. Her younger sibling's statements to police disputed these claims. Martinson later said she had taken the gun to commit suicide, but was interrupted by Thomas Ayers. Martinson claimed she had taken one of Ayers' guns to her room after the argument with the intention of killing herself. He began knocking on her door and she feared the consequences of him finding her with it. She then made the decision to kill him, as she felt he "deserved to die more," and began firing, striking him in the neck. She then shot him in the head, killing him. Police were called to the scene on March 8 by the oldest stepsister of Martinson and they immediately suspected Martinson was responsible, due to the fact that she had fled the scene. After police announced the details of the crime and their vehicle information, she and Sisco were captured in Boone County, Indiana. It is believed the pair were actually planning to meet relatives of Sisco in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Sisco was never considered a suspect in the case, but was charged for a parole violation. Martinson "fought" extradition from Indiana to Wisconsin, but was eventually brought back to the state.

Trial and conviction

Martinson was originally charged as an adult, with two accounts of first-degree intentional homicide and

false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...

. She later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. She later accepted a plea deal of second-degree murder in March 2016 and was sentenced to twenty-three years in prison along with seventeen years of supervision in June. The prosecutors pursued a forty-year sentence, where her defense argued for eight, citing her mother's negligence of subjecting the family to the abuse of Thomas Ayers. Judge Michael Bloom stated he felt Martinson's history was not enough to justify murder and her life was not in danger at the time. Martinson is detained at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, located in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Since her imprisonment, she states she feels "happy" and "safe." She also received her high school diploma. In June 2017, Martinson argued for a reduced sentence with the aid of her lawyer, who cited the defendant was incapable of making a rational choice due to her living conditions. The motion was denied by judge Michael Bloom in September. In 2019 an appeals court denied her a new trial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinson, Ashlee American female murderers People from Rhinelander, Wisconsin Criminals from Wisconsin Place of birth missing (living people) American people convicted of murder 1998 births Living people Matricides Murder committed by minors