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Utah Man Allegedly Murders Girlfriend, Broadcasted Aftermath Of Slaying On Snapchat
Authorities said a Snapchat user reported a "significant issue" inside the home of 26-year-old Isaac Renfro.
A Utah man broadcasted the gruesome aftermath of an alleged domestic violence murder on Snapchat prior to turning the gun on himself last week, authorities said.
Isaac Andre Renfro, 26, allegedly uploaded photos and videos to Snapchat suggesting a woman had been seriously injured prior to killing himself in the suspected May 1 murder-suicide, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Renfro and Miranda Schachinger were supposedly dating at the time of the suspected murder-suicide, the Deseret News reported.
Detectives declined to specify the alleged nature and content of the Snapchat posts but indicated a "significant issue" had taken place at the property. Authorities were reportedly tipped off to the graphic posts by other users.
On Friday, authorities were dispatched to the Candlestick Apartments in Midvale, Utah following a report of domestic violence and became engaged in a standoff with Renfro and a SWAT team was called to respond.
Investigators — who first established contact with Renfro at the scene by telephone — heard gunshots coming from inside the residence during the standoff.
Law enforcement eventually entered the property and found the bodies of Renfro and 26-year-old Schachinger. Both had sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Their deaths appeared to be a murder-suicide, investigators stated.
“Our whole point of the negotiation was to get these persons out alive," Unified Police Department Detective Ken Hansen told KSTU. "It’s unfortunate that that didn’t happen."
Detectives declined to comment further on the alleged nature and specific content of the Snapchat posts.
Schachinger’s friends and family celebrated her life with a vigil over the weekend.
“She was a great mother, hard worker and loving to all who crossed paths with her," her family said in a statement obtained by local media. "We would like to thank the amazing police officers, detectives, victim advocates, EMS, firefighters, and other public servants who have sacrificed their time to support, uplift, and mourn with us.”
“She didn’t deserve this, and we didn’t deserve to have her taken from us,” Miranda Wilson, the woman’s friend, told KSTU. "She was my very best friend. But if you asked a thousand other people, they would say she was their best friend too because that’s just who she was."
The 26-year-old is remembered as a compassionate nursing assistant, according to her relatives.
“I hope people remember how giving she was,” her mother-in-law Andrea Stubbs also told KSTU. “She took care of the elderly as a CNA and she was in nursing school. All she wanted to do was help people.”
The Utah woman also has a young son.
“We will make sure that we remind him every day how amazing his mom was and how blessed he is to be her son,” Stubbs added.
Utah authorities said they’ve experienced a slight rise in domestic violence reports since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the U.S. economy and locked down cities coast to coast. In Salt Lake City, in particular, most crime has plummeted — except for relationship violence, the Tribune reported.
Some experts fear as quarantine measures are gradually lifted and cities and states begin to reopen, it could trigger further incidents at households already tainted by abuse.
“Reopening society is like serving abusers with a protective order, Jenn Oxborrow, executive director of the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, told the Tribune. “They lose control. It could get bad over this next week.”
