Dad Says He Killed Daughter’s Boyfriend Who Trafficked Her — But Police Say There’s No Evidence Of Trafficking
What will the courts say?
Spokane County Court / Facebook In October 2020, 60-year-old John Eisenman claims he discovered that his juvenile daughter had been sold to a sex trafficking ring that operated out of Seattle, Washington.
After hearing claims that his daughter’s boyfriend was the one responsible for her sale, Eisenman allegedly murdered him.
The story, which was quickly spread across several media outlets, may have more to it that previously thought as police say there is no evidence that the man was involved in sex trafficking.
Josh Eisenman claimed he killed Aaron Sorenson after saving his daughter from sex trafficking.
Eisenman was reunited with his daughter in October 2020 but reportedly began planning the murder which took place the following month.
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According to a Facebook post made by the City of Spokane Police Department, Eisenman found out that the 20-year-old would be at a location in Airway Heights, WA.
There, Eisenman allegedly waited for him to show up and confronted him once he arrived — abducting the victim, tying him up, and placing him in the trunk of a vehicle.
Once he was in the trunk, police believe Eisenman assaulted Sorenson by hitting him in the head with a cinderblock and then stabbing him repeatedly, causing the 20-year-old’s death.
After the murder, the father drove the vehicle to a remote area in North Spokane County and abandoned the car with the body still inside.
It wasn’t until a year later that someone discovered the car, in October, and drove it to Spokane — not knowing that there was a dead body residing in the trunk for over a year.
It was on October 22, 2021, that someone reported a foul odor coming from the abandoned vehicle in the Spokane area parked on 1800 E Everett.
John Eisenman was eventually arrested for the murder of Aaron Sorenson.
According to police reports, the interior of the car had been covered in mold, and one of the first officers on the scene tried to call the registered owner of the car, Brenda Kross (who was also Eisenman’s fiance), before opening the truck, except her phone wasn’t accepting calls.
Court documents revealed that Sorenson’s hands and ankles were bound with zip ties, his mouth had been covered with tape, and his clothing had puncture marks, alluding to his multiple stab wounds.
After multiple failed attempts to reach Kross over the phone, police visited the couple’s house where Eisienman answered the door and claimed that the car had been stolen for over a year.
A few days later, police finally got into contact with Kross, who claimed that their daughter had been sold to a sex trafficking ring and that she and Eisenman drove all the way to Seattle in order to rescue her.
According to a tip from Eisenman’s neighbor, the 60-year-old man had described to the neighbor the way Sorensen was placed in the trunk that only someone involved would know.
Spokane Police Department and Airway Heights police worked together to arrest the father without incident and hold him in custody — charged with murder of the first degree.
Despite Sorensen’s cause and manner of death being listed as pending by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office, Eisenman confessed to the crime once he had been arrested.
John Eisenman is believed to have been on drugs when the murder occured.
Spokane police detective Randy Lesser alleged in court documents that John Eisenman, 60, said he was likely high on methamphetamine when the murder occured.
Lesser wrote that police have not recovered any “independent and verifiable facts” that Sorensen sex-trafficked Eisenman’s daughter.
Per medical records, the daughter said that Sorensen had abandoned her in Seattle where she met another man who held her captive, gave her drugs, and sold her for sex.
However, in another statement she did claim Sorensen had sold her but added that she had been homeless in the city for three weeks. Police have determined that this is not possible since she only arrived in Seattle on October 20 and was collected by her father on October 23.
Aaron Sorensen's family have spoken in defense of their son.
They say Eisenman's claims have dehumanized their son who was developmentally disabled and was born with autism and cerebal palsy.
“He was a disabled kid,” Sorensen’s father, Randy, said. “He didn’t have the capability to sex traffic anybody.”
“Claims by his confessed killer have been very hurtful and only added to our family’s grief," the family also shared in a statement.
Prior to his arrest, Eisenman had no previous criminal record or history of violence but remains in custody at the Spokane County Jail on a bond set at $1 million.
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Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.