Spokane parents plead guilty to killing daughter's 19-year-old boyfriend who was baselessly accused of sex trafficking

Nov. 14—An engaged Spokane couple pleaded guilty Thursday to killing their daughter's 19-year-old boyfriend four years ago after baselessly suspecting him of sex trafficking the girl.

As part of an agreement, John B. Eisenman, 63, pleaded guilty as charged to first-degree murder in the death of Andrew Sorensen. Brenda D. Kross, 57, pleaded to first-degree manslaughter for her role in the November 2020 killing of Sorensen, whose mother said he had cerebral palsy and autism.

The killing became a national story because of Eisenman's sex-trafficking claim and earned him financial support on a crowd-funding website for his legal defense. He later said he was likely under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the slaying.

The prosecution and defense agreed to a 22-year prison sentence for Eisenman and an eight-year sentence for Kross. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese will sentence the couple Jan. 16.

Sorensen's body was found Oct. 22, 2021, in the trunk of an abandoned Honda Accord registered to Kross, next to Rochester Heights Park in northeast Spokane, according to court documents. Surveillance video from a nearby residence showed the car two days prior being parked along the curb and then abandoned.

Spokane Police Det. Randy Lesser wrote in court documents that Sorensen's ankles were bound together with zip ties and his hands were bound behind his back with ties. Tape appeared to cover Sorensen's mouth.

Lesser visited Kross' residence and spoke to Eisenman, as she wasn't home.

Eisenman claimed he and Kross owned the vehicle but someone had stolen it from their residence more than a year ago, Lesser wrote. Kross repeated the stolen vehicle story a couple of days later, but Lesser noted she never reported the vehicle stolen.

Eisenman and Kross told police their daughter was sold into prostitution in October 2020 in Seattle by Sorensen, her boyfriend. They said they drove to Seattle to rescue her.

Plese said Thursday in court that there was no evidence Sorensen sex-trafficked his girlfriend.

Police also said in documents there was no evidence to support the sex trafficking claim. Lesser wrote he has "not been able to document any independent and verifiable facts that would indicate that Sorensen somehow sex trafficked" his girlfriend.

A couple of days after Sorensen's body was found, Lesser learned a resident called Crime Check to report that his neighbor told him Eisenman confessed to killing someone and placing the body into the trunk of a vehicle. Lesser contacted the neighbor, who said Eisenman indicated he killed Sorensen because Sorensen forced his daughter into prostitution.

Eisenman provided specific details about Sorensen, who was reported missing in November 2020, being found in the trunk of the Honda that only someone who was involved in the homicide would know, Lesser wrote.

Eisenman was arrested one week after Sorensen's body was found.

He told police he and Kross went to Seattle in October 2020 to rescue their daughter. After returning to Spokane with the girl, he learned Sorensen was going to be at a mobile home park in Airway Heights. Eisenman said he surveilled the location and saw Sorensen being dropped off at the location, according to documents.

Eisenman confronted Sorensen, used zip ties to tie Sorensen's hands behind his back and placed him into the trunk of the Honda, he told police. Eisenman said he used zip ties to bound Sorensen's ankles, put a sock in his mouth and wrapped tape around his mouth.

While Sorensen was in the trunk, Eisenman admitted to punching Sorensen and throwing a cinder block at his head, then stabbing him several times in the stomach.

Eisenman told police he drove the car back to his residence with Sorensen's body inside the trunk and left the vehicle parked on the street. The next day, Eisenman drove the Honda, with Sorensen's body still inside, to property off U.S. Highway 2. He put the Honda in the back of the property and removed the car battery, so that no one could drive it.

He said he did not return to the property since he abandoned the Honda there in November 2020, documents say.

Kross made it nearly another year before being arrested after she told a co-worker about taunting of the dying teen, according to documents.

Kross told the co-worker in August 2022 she played a song about "crying, crying, crying" while she and Eisenman killed Sorensen. Kross then started to hum the song, the co-worker told police, saying she played the song because Sorensen was crying so much while begging for his life. The woman said Kross told her that she and Eisenman were laughing and singing while the 19-year-old cried.

Kross told the co-worker she punched Sorensen in the face and that she and Eisenman hit Sorensen with a cinder block, beat him and stabbed him. She said they put Sorensen's body in the trunk of her vehicle before ditching the car.

The woman said Kross told her Sorensen "got what he deserved."

Police arrested Kross and booked her into jail Sept. 15, 2022, on suspicion of first-degree murder.

Eisenman's recommended sentence would be the low end of a 20- to 27-year standard sentence range, plus two years for a deadly weapon enhancement.

The recommended sentence for Kross, who sat in the court gallery watching Eisenman plead guilty to murder before her hearing, was closer to the high end of the 6 1/2 - to 8 1/2 -year standard sentence range.

The attorneys also agreed to credit the defendants for time served in jail. Eisenman has been incarcerated since his arrest more than three years ago, and Kross has been in jail since her arrest more than two years ago.

Theresa Sorensen, Andrew Sorensen's mother, told reporters after the hearing she didn't feel Eisenman's suggested sentence of 22 years was justice for their son.

She said she looks forward to Plese's sentence.

"I just can't believe the wickedness and evil of these people," Theresa Sorensen told The Spokesman-Review after Kross' arrest in 2022.