Ethan Grasse, 23, of Wyoming is charged with second‑degree murder in the November 2025 shooting death of his father, 49‑year‑old Michael Grasse, after a dispute involving alcohol, threats, and a locked bedroom door.
What led up to the shooting
Ethan Grasse told investigators that his father had been drinking heavily and making threats the day before the shooting, prompting him to buy a locking doorknob so his father could not enter his room without permission. On November 21, 2025, he drove his father to pick up food, then parked his car behind his father’s to keep him from driving while drunk; when his father tried to move trash cans so he could get out, a physical fight broke out until Ethan’s grandmother intervened.
Later that night, Ethan took his father’s car keys and phone, emptied several bottles of whiskey, changed his bedroom lock, and went to bed while his father lay passed out on the couch. Around 10 p.m., Michael Grasse banged on the door, threatening to break it down and assault his son; Ethan later texted his grandmother that he would defend himself if his father tried to force his way in.
The shooting and self‑defense claim
Police say that at about 3:30 a.m. on November 22, Ethan Grasse, who was not wearing his glasses, heard someone banging on the door, grabbed a .22‑caliber handgun from his room, and fired at least three shots through the door as it was being broken down. He heard his father moan, put his glasses on, and then called 911; Michael Grasse was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead at 4:22 a.m.
Ethan claims he thought he was defending himself against an “unknown intruder” because he could not see clearly without his glasses. A judge in Uinta County District Court rejected a motion to dismiss the second‑degree murder charge based on self‑defense but said the defense can still present that argument to a jury at trial, which is scheduled to begin on May 12.
