A California man has been accused of orchestrating a 2016 triple murder after falling for an underage girl he met at a furry convention.
Frank Felix, then 25, who went as a dragon called Entey, met 17-year-old Katlynn Goodwill Yost at the event for people who dabble in dressing in elaborate animal costumes.
When Katlynn’s mother Jennifer found out about the relationship, she ordered her daughter to end things with Felix, a California court heard, according to the Orange County Register.
Felix’s obsession with Yost resulted in self-mutilation, including one instance where he cut himself in front of the teen, prosecutors said at his trial that began this week.
Felix enlisted Josh Acosta, a known Brony (a male fan of My Little Pony) to free Yost from her parents, the Register reported, and in the week leading up to the murders, the two men allegedly planned the deaths via email.
“[Felix] became despondent and angry and eventually formulated a plan,” prosecutors said. “[Felix and Acosta] determined they would solve the problem by saving the 17-year-old from the clutches of her mother and stepfather by murdering them.”
The pair purchased bolt cutters, ear plugs and shotgun ammo.
Acosta, who was 21 at the time and a private first class in the Army stationed in Fort Irwin, agreed to commit the murders after Yost confided in them that she had been molested by her stepfather, Christopher Yost.
The girl let Acosta inside the family’s Fullerton, California home on Sept. 24, 2016, while she waited in a car with Felix.
Arthur “Billy” Boucher, a friend of the family who was staying the night, was shot and killed first.
Acosta then entered a bedroom and shot Jennifer in the head, then gunned down Christopher as he tried to escape.
The three bodies were found by the couple’s then-six-year-old. Their nine-year-old daughter was also in the house at the time of the murder but was unharmed, according to the publication.
Katlynn was declared missing until she was found later.
Authorities at the base where Acosta was stationed found three shotgun shells that were later tied to the killing.
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Felix told detectives that he “knew she wouldn’t be safe if the parents weren’t killed,” the Register reported.
During Acosta’s 2018 trial, the defence argued that the pair had been manipulated by Katlynn into carrying out the slayings.
Acosta was found guilty on all three counts of murder on Nov. 8, 2018, and a month later he was sentenced to life in prison.
At his trial, Yost testified about her stepfather’s alleged molestation in exchange for immunity.
Felix is charged with three counts of murder. If convicted, he faces life in prison without the chance of parole.