At 2 AM, while Tim Jamieson was working as a night knocker in DuPray, a black SUV with Minnesota State Patrol plates arrived on Wildersmoot Drive in a Minneapolis suburb where Luke Ellis lived. Inside were Denny Williams, Michelle Robertson, and Robin, who prepared gear including latex gloves, suppressed Glock pistols, night-vision goggles, and an aerosol disguised as air freshener. Through a contact named Jerry Symonds, Michelle had the home’s DeWalt alarm system shut down before entry.

The team entered the Ellis house through the kitchen using a key. After gearing up with silencers and goggles, they moved upstairs. Michelle went to Luke’s room, counted down to synchronize with her partners, and accidentally knocked a trophy, waking Luke. As Luke began to speak, Michelle sprayed the aerosol directly into his face, rendering him unconscious instantly.

Simultaneously, Denny and Robin entered the parents’ bedroom and discovered Eileen Ellis in the bathroom. The brightness forced them to discard their goggles, alerting Eileen with the noise. Robin suffocated and shot Herb Ellis through a pillow; Denny confronted Eileen as she exited and executed her with a suppressed shot to the head.

Robin fired two more shots into Herb through the pillow, with the later shots increasingly loud, and Denny criticized her for the excessive force. With both parents dead, they regrouped in Luke’s room. Denny carried the unconscious Luke downstairs and out through the kitchen.

They crossed the lawn without attracting attention from neighbors and loaded Luke into the SUV, where Robin held him as he drooled in his stupor. Michelle secured the weapons and aerosol, and Denny drove off, restoring the headlights at the intersection.

Michelle called Symonds again to report they had the “package” and an airport ETA of twenty-five minutes, and requested the alarm be reactivated. The home security was restored, leaving a scene designed so that, when police eventually arrived, they would find two dead parents and a missing, brilliant son, potentially framing Luke as the prime suspect.