Police have taken a man into custody for killing a 25-year-old woman after a Tinder date, the Layton Police Department said on Sunday, May 24. Ethan Hunsaker, 24, called police at 3:20 a.m. on Sunday saying that he had just killed someone at his residence near 1300 North Reid Avenue.
Tinder Date Gone Wrong
Hunsaker told officers that he "did not know" the woman he had killed 10 minutes before making the call but had met her through the popular dating app Tinder. When officers arrived at his residence they found the woman dead on the floor with multiple stab wounds to her torso, according to the police. Emergency responders tried to resuscitate the woman but she was pronounced dead at the scene, police said in a statement.
According to Hunsaker, he matched with the victim Ashlyn (Hunsaker said he didn't know her last name) on Tinder on Saturday, May 23. Their date started at approximately 9 p.m. when he picked her up and the two of them went to a local bar. The pair had a few drinks before heading back to Hunsaker's rented apartment.
Woman Choked, Stabbed After Sex
After entering the home, the two engaged in "intimate relations" in one of the three bedrooms of the apartment before cuddling and falling asleep afterwards. Hunsaker woke up with the woman resting on his arm and started choking the victim "as hard as he could for about one minute," he told officers. This is consistent with the scratch marks found on Hunsaker's arms, neck and shoulders.
According to arrest documents, Hunsaker then stood up and grabbed a knife from the kitchen before kneeling over the victim and stabbing her repeatedly in the chest, sides and back. Hunsaker then watched the victim bleed out for approximately 10 minutes before calling 911 to turn himself in. During the phone call, he told dispatch that he would like officers to kill him upon arrival.
Motive?
Police are still investigating the motive behind the murder but believe the attack seems to have been unprovoked. According to the statement, the date went normally without any argument that would cause him to want to kill her.
However, after he was taken into custody, Hunsaker told officers that he was diagnosed with mental health illnesses and struggled with daily thought of homicidal actions and suicide. He also told authorities that he used to take prescribed medication to treat the mental illnesses.
You can read the Layton Police Department's full press release below:
