A Joshua Orlando guilty plea to felony murder in the first degree and aggravated kidnapping has been entered in Sedgwick County District Court, Kansas, following the fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Ivy Unruh, during an argument over a Nintendo Switch gaming console. Orlando, 29, now faces a minimum of 38 years and nine months in state prison before he becomes eligible for parole.
The plea was entered before Judge Jeffrey Goering. Orlando is scheduled to be sentenced on 28 August 2026.
Joshua Orlando Guilty Plea: What the Court Record Shows
According to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Wichita CBS affiliate KWCH, the shooting took place on the morning of 17 April at the Remington Apartments off 37th Street North, between Woodlawn Boulevard and Rock Road in north-east Wichita. Officers responding shortly after 8am found Unruh near Building 5 with a gunshot wound to her upper body. She died on 20 April from her injuries.
Orlando made the 911 call himself. In that call, he told the dispatcher that he and his wife had argued, that she had struck him, and that he had fired in what he characterised as self-defence. ‘My wife and I got into a fight,’ the caller says at one point. ‘She hit me…’ Later in the same call, he admitted the outcome plainly: ‘I shot her, I shot her.’
As officers arrived and placed him in handcuffs, Orlando reportedly wept and urged paramedics to help Unruh. ‘I know she didn’t mean to hurt me,’ he allegedly said.
The City of Wichita confirmed that the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office received the case for formal charges on the morning of 21 April.
The affidavit sets out the scene in detail. Unruh was lying on her back at the foot of a stairway with blood coming from her nose. She was wearing a backpack and carrying a purse; in her right hand was a plastic bag containing the Nintendo Switch. She appeared to have been preparing to leave. A black Sig Sauer P365 semiautomatic 9mm handgun was found on the left side of her body, apparently dropped by Orlando.
A Relationship Marked by Abuse and Divorce
Unruh, 25, was a Marine veteran, People magazine reports. When she rented her flat at the Remington Apartments, she told the leasing agent she was trying to get away from an abusive former partner and specifically asked about the building’s security features. She also requested that the agent not contact her previous landlord, who was known to her ex.
In August 2025, Unruh filed for divorce. Within the divorce petition, in the section addressing distribution of assets, she specified that Orlando would retain his pistol while she would retain the Nintendo Switch. That division of property would later form the backdrop to the fatal confrontation.
Orlando told police the divorce had multiple causes, including alleged infidelity on Unruh’s part. In the days before the shooting, he contacted her about sharing study notes, since both were attending classes. That contact led to another argument, and the two agreed their relationship could not be repaired. A plan was made for Orlando to leave some of her belongings at her door.
Instead, on 17 April, Orlando went to Unruh’s apartment and waited at the foot of the stairs, the Switch in a bag. When Unruh saw him, she allegedly reacted with visible anger. Orlando handed over the console, a further argument broke out, and Unruh allegedly swung the bag containing the Nintendo and struck him on the left side of his face.
Orlando told police the blow caused him to see lights and brought back the memory of a separate incident in which Unruh had struck him with a replica Zelda sword after he had thrown a slipper at her. After being hit, he said he drew his handgun, raised his left arm to cover his face, and fired a single round without aiming, an act the affidavit describes as ‘blind firing.’
The initial shooting was reported on 17 April. Subject to any matters raised at the sentencing hearing before Judge Goering on 28 August 2026, Orlando faces a mandatory minimum of 38 years and nine months before any prospect of parole under Kansas law.
