Investigators say surveillance video, a 911 call and items found beside Ivy Unruh shape the murder case against Joshua Orlando.
WICHITA, Kan. — Less than a minute passed between the time Ivy Unruh left her Wichita apartment and the gunshot that led to a murder charge against her estranged husband, according to a police affidavit.
The case against Joshua Orlando, 29, centers on what happened in that brief span outside the Remington Apartments on April 17. Police say Unruh, 25, walked out of her unit at 8:00:15 a.m. A shot was fired at 8:00:52 a.m. A 911 call followed at 8:01:21 a.m. Unruh died three days later, and Orlando was charged with premeditated first-degree murder. The affidavit also describes a pending divorce, a Nintendo Switch handoff and witness statements that Unruh had left a relationship marked by alleged abuse.
The morning began with a police dispatch at 8:03 a.m. to 7272 E. 37th St. for a reported shooting. Wichita police said officers found Unruh near Building 5 with a gunshot wound to her upper body. A firearm was also recovered. Emergency workers took her to a hospital in grave condition, while officers arrested Orlando at the scene. He was brought to the Wichita Police Investigations Bureau and initially booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on an aggravated battery allegation. The charge changed after Unruh died April 20. The next morning, police presented the case to prosecutors, and Orlando was charged with premeditated first-degree murder.
The 911 call became one of the first pieces of evidence described in public reports on the affidavit. Police say Orlando made the call. “My wife and I got into a fight,” the caller said, according to the document. He said he had come to drop off items and that Unruh “got really mad” he was there. He also said she hit him and that he tried to defend himself. The statement broke off in places, but the caller later said, “I shot her, I shot her.” When officers arrived, Orlando was placed in handcuffs. Police say he cried and asked emergency medical workers to help Unruh, adding, “I know she didn’t mean to hurt me.”
The physical evidence listed in the affidavit provides the state’s account of where Unruh was and what she was carrying. Investigators said she was lying on her back near a stairway, with her head on the bottom step and blood coming from her nose. A black backpack was strapped over her right shoulder. Her purse was on her left arm. Her right hand held a plastic bag containing a Nintendo Switch gaming console. A black Sig Sauer P365 semiautomatic 9 mm handgun was found near the left side of her body. The document says the placement of the bag, backpack and purse made it appear Unruh had been preparing to leave.
Orlando’s statement to police gave another account of the same seconds. He said he went to Unruh’s apartment with the Switch in a bag and waited near the foot of the stairs. He told investigators that when Unruh saw him, she appeared angry and reacted with surprise. He said he handed her the console, and an argument followed. At some point, he said, she swung the bag containing the Nintendo Switch and hit him on the left side of his face. Orlando claimed the blow hurt, made him see lights and caused him to recall an earlier fight involving a replica Zelda sword. He said he pulled his handgun, raised his left arm over his face and fired one round without aiming.
Prosecutors are not treating the shooting as an accident in the filed charge. Court records show Orlando is accused of intentionally and with premeditation killing Unruh in a domestic violence offense. That allegation places the state’s focus on intent before the shot, not only on the fact that the weapon fired. The affidavit’s timeline may become important because it gives prosecutors a frame for the encounter and gives the defense a narrow period to examine. The difference between Orlando’s stated claim that he fired blindly and the state’s murder charge is likely to be one of the central disputes as the case develops in court.
The property handoff described in the affidavit was tied to divorce paperwork filed months earlier. Unruh filed for divorce in August 2025. In a section dealing with property, records cited by investigators say Orlando would keep possession of his pistol and Unruh would keep possession of the Nintendo Switch. In the days before the shooting, Orlando said he contacted Unruh about a study night because both were taking classes and could share notes. That contact led to another dispute, police say, and the two agreed their relationship could not be repaired. Orlando was supposed to leave some of Unruh’s property at her door, according to the affidavit, rather than wait for her in person.
Police also gathered statements about the months before the shooting. A leasing agent told investigators Unruh said she wanted to get away from her abusive ex when she rented the apartment and asked about security features. The leasing agent said Unruh also asked that her prior landlord not be contacted because that person was a friend of her ex. Unruh’s supervisor at PBS Kansas told police that Unruh had separated from Orlando due to verbal and physical abuse and said she had seen bruises on Unruh. Orlando told police the divorce had several causes and claimed Unruh had cheated on him. Those competing accounts are part of the background, but the criminal charge rests on the fatal shooting.
Unruh’s death was confirmed April 20, three days after she was taken to the hospital. She had worked as a broadcast engineer at PBS Kansas and had served in the Marine Corps from 2020 to 2024, reaching the rank of sergeant while in the Individual Ready Reserve. Her former military assignment included Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, and records cited in public reporting said she had received medals including the good conduct medal. PBS Kansas President Victor Hogstrom said Unruh was a dependable employee whose killing shocked her coworkers. Family supporters said in a fundraiser that her donated organs saved six people after her death.
The case moved into Sedgwick County District Court with Orlando held on a bond listed at $1.5 million. He was scheduled for preliminary hearing proceedings before Judge Jeffrey Goering. A preliminary hearing would require prosecutors to show enough evidence for the case to continue, though it would not decide guilt. Orlando had not been reported as convicted or as having entered a plea in the early public court accounts. The affidavit, surveillance video, 911 call and witness statements are expected to form the early evidentiary record.
As of June 20, the murder case remains pending. The official timeline still begins with a door opening at 8:00:15 a.m. and a shot 37 seconds later outside Building 5.
Author note: Last updated June 20, 2026.