‘Evil came over you’: Man who brutally killed 19-year-old he falsely accused of sex trafficking gets 25 years in prison

Andrew Sorensen’s loved ones spent nearly a year searching, praying and worrying for the 19-year-old.

On Oct. 22, 2021, his body was found bound, beaten and stabbed in the trunk of an abandoned car next to a Spokane park.

The family’s suffering continued when the killing drew national attention because John B. Eisenman claimed that Sorensen sex-trafficked their daughter, of which police found no evidence.

On Friday, the Sorensen family got some justice and closure when the 63-year-old Eisenman received a 25-year prison sentence for the brutal slaying.

“There will be some satisfaction today, but not a lot,” Curtis Boutain, Sorensen’s grandfather, told Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese.

Plese sentenced in January Eisenman’s codefendant and fiancée, Brenda D. Kross, to 8½ years in prison after she pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Tom Treppiedi called Eisenman, who pleaded guilty in November to first-degree murder, the “primary actor” in the killing.

Plese sentenced Eisenman to the middle of the standard sentence range, or just over 25 years, even though Treppiedi and Cossey recommended a 22-year sentence.

Nine people, including Sorensen’s parents, expressed to Plese the misery, anger and sorrow they’ve experienced since Sorensen went missing in 2020. They asked Plese to impose the most severe sentence she could.

Randy Sorensen confronted Eisenman, who wore yellow Spokane County Jail clothing with his gray hair tied back in a ponytail, when it was his turn to speak Friday.

He said he and Eisenman could have worked through any issues involving their children, but he took advantage of Andrew and “brutally murdered” him instead.

“It would have just taken a phone call, brother,” Randy said. “You’re going to prison, and my kid’s dead.”

He said Eisenman took advantage of Andrew, who had cerebral palsy and autism, when he and Kross confronted him and tied him up.

“Evil came over you,” Randy said. “I feel like John is a really evil man, and I don’t know why.”

Eisenman told Plese he wanted the family to know that he killed Andrew, not Kross.

“I admitted that from day one,” he said.

Theresa Sorensen carried a large red box filled with manila envelopes of Andrew’s medical records to the prosecutor’s table to show how much work and love goes into raising a disabled son.

She said people might think her life is easier with her son gone, but it’s not.

“He counted on me to care for him and to take care of him, and I’m really sorry I don’t get to anymore,” she said.

At Kross’ sentencing in January, Theresa said she and her husband adopted Andrew despite his physical and mental issues, which required extensive therapies and doctor appointments, but that Andrew was “just a happy kid” free of tantrums that young children often have.

“The longer Andrew was with us, the more we fell in love with him,” she said.

As a teenager, she said her son would often leave home and return with a homeless person he befriended.

She said her son worked hard, and they had plans for his future.

Judy Boutain, Andrew’s aunt, said Friday Andrew’s parents will never be complete again.

“This is their new reality,” she said.

Many family members spoke of the brutal murder and the false sex-trafficking motive that earned Eisenman financial support on a crowdfunding website for his legal defense. He later said he was likely under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the slaying.

“It’s a slander that affects our whole family,” Curtis said.

He said Andrew was a sweet person who didn’t want to harm anyone. He once gave shoes to a friend on the street and walked home barefoot.

“He would never hurt anybody intentionally,” Curtis said.

Judy called Eisenman and Kross “liars” for concocting the narrative of Eisenman exacting revenge on Andrew for the baseless sex-trafficking claims.

“They are monsters, and when they were caught, they acted as if they were heroes,” she said.

According to court documents, Eisenman told police he and Kross went to Seattle in October 2020 to rescue their daughter from the supposed prostitution. After returning to Spokane with the girl, he learned Andrew was going to be at a mobile home park in Airway Heights.

That’s where Eisenman confronted Andrew, bound and gagged him, and put him into the trunk of the car, he told police.

While Andrew was in the trunk, Eisenman admitted to punching him 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 Andrew’s body inside the trunk and left the vehicle parked on the street. The next day, Eisenman drove the car, with Andrew’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.

Kross made it nearly another year before being arrested after she told a co-worker about taunting 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 Andrew. Kross then started to hum the song, the co-worker told police, saying she played the song because Andrew 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.

“Killing Andrew was a party for John and Brenda,” Judy said.

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

The woman said Kross told her Andrew “got what he deserved.”

Eisenman’s attorney, Robert Cossey, said his client has no felonies and has been employed with high-paying physical labor jobs throughout his life. He said Eisenman did not fabricate his motive for killing Andrew and that he originally wanted to go to trial, take the stand and explain his perspective.

He eventually decided to plead guilty as charged because he didn’t want to put the Sorensen family through a trial, Cossey said. He said Eisenman believes he’ll die in prison.