A retired Marine has admitted to fatally shooting his ex-wife outside her home following a dispute that involved a Nintendo Switch.
Ivy Unruh, 25, a PBS engineer and Marine veteran, was shot in the head outside her apartment complex in northeast Wichita, Kansas, at around 8 a.m. on April 17.
Her former husband, 29-year-old Joshua Orlando, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Sedgwick County court and is now facing a lengthy prison sentence.
Orlando went to the Remington Apartments early that morning to return a bag of Unruh’s belongings after she had left him and moved out of the home they shared.
According to court records, he had been expected to leave the bag at her door. Instead, he waited near the bottom of the stairs and confronted her as she was leaving for work.
Orlando asked Unruh why she refused to meet with him face-to-face, leading to an argument during which he claimed she swung the bag and struck him on the side of the head.
He allegedly told investigators that being hit by the Switch triggered memories of a January 2025 altercation in which he claimed Unruh struck him with a replica sword from the Zelda franchise.
Orlando told police that incident began after he threw a slipper at her, prompting Unruh to allegedly attack him, and that he locked himself in a bathroom to get away. He said he did not report the episode at the time but claimed he had photos of his injuries on his phone.
Female PBS engineer and retired Marine Ivy Unruh, 25, has been shot dead in broad daylight outside her home by her estranged husband, according to Wichita Police in Kansas
Joshua Orlando, 29, has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder, per jail records
Orlando claimed to police that he took out his handgun after Unruh hit him with the Switch, and ‘blind fired’ while shielding his face with his left arm.
Police found the black Sig Sauer P365 9mm pistol next to Unruh’s body when they arrived at the scene, where Orlando said he dropped it.
Video from Unruh’s doorbell camera showed she left her apartment just 37 seconds before the gunshot rang out. Then Orlando called 911.
‘My wife and I got into a fight. She hit me in the with a… I shot her, I shot her,’ he said.
‘I came to drop off some stuff off and she got really mad that I was there.
‘We were arguing and she hit me. She hit me and I tried to defend myself. I thought she was going to swing again with.’
Orlando cried as police handcuffed him, telling them, ‘I know she didn’t mean to hurt me.’
Unruh’s family said she was the victim of domestic violence and ‘had the courage to walk away from a dangerous situation, yet tragically, her life was still taken.’
They remembered her as an ex-Marine who ‘served her country with honor, strength and selflessness,’ adding that she donated her organs after her death.
‘To those who knew her, she was more than a Marine – she was a daughter, a sister, and a friend who brought light into the lives of others,’ they wrote on GoFundMe.
‘As you all are aware, Ivy was an organ donor and planned to continue being a hero and saving lives even after she was no longer with us.
‘We have received news from the organ donor team and Ivy saved six people in total.
‘Six pieces of her that will live on. Six humans that still have life and get to go home to their families because of her.
‘She saved those six people but it will impact well beyond that for every loved one that gets to hug their family member a little longer.’
Victor Hogstrom, president of PBS Kansas where Unruh worked, said the newsroom has been devastated by her death.
Unruh’s family said she was the victim of domestic violence and ‘had the courage to walk away from a dangerous situation, yet tragically, her life was still taken’
‘To those who knew her, she was more than a Marine – she was a daughter, a sister, and a friend who brought light into the lives of others,’ Unruh’s family wrote on GoFundMe
Ivy Unruh, 25, was a former US Marine
‘I heard about it and the first thing I did was slam the desk with my two hands – bang, what? That was my reaction. I couldn’t believe it,’ Hogstrom told the New York Post.
Hogstrom added that Unruh was ‘very motivated’ and ‘trustworthy.’
‘She worked with people well. She was smart and very intelligent,’ he said.
‘She was a good employee. We’re all missing her from here, a very dependable person.’
Orlando is still in the county jail on a $1.5 million bond. He will be sentenced in August.
