The grisly deaths of 44-year-old Jessica Lyman and her 8-year-old son Eli Painter in the nonviolent suburb of
Saratoga Springs
, Utah, have led to a confusing, bloody investigation that, with every new turn, reads like a true crime novel.
Details that are too terrifying for fiction have been leaked by a recently unsealed search warrant in Utah, which includes handwritten notes from Lyman’s 15-year-old son with the threatening title, “This is a murder story.”
The community was taken aback by the two murders on March 28, 2025, and it has since grown into a very complex case filled with forensic mysteries. Regardless of having learned that no person of interest has been officially identified,
People magazine
was able to gain access to unsealed documents that show growing concerns about Lyman’s teenage son, whose hateful texts, forensic skills, and disturbing bedroom contents are currently being carefully analyzed.
When her 17-year-old daughter encountered Jessica and Eli lying in pools of their own blood, the police force was called to the Lyman residence. The boy had been
declared dead at the scene
after having been shot twice in the head. Jessica passed away in a hospital just two days later, holding on to life despite signs of exposure and trauma.
She had no way to recognize her attacker in her final hours.
The Teen Clues in This Utah Double-Murder Case
After searching the Utah family’s home, the investigators found documentation that sets up a spooky image. BB gun pistols, tactical gear, a suspicious white-and-brown mask that looked like it had been recorded on a neighbor’s security camera, and a pair of Lyman’s private clothes were among the items that were spotted in the 15-year-old’s room.
The notes written by hand mentioning “serology,” “DNA,” and “firearm testing,” along with the attention-grabbing phrase, “This is a murder story,” were probably the most dreadful.
The concern was made even stronger by an online trail alongside the physical proof.
Trigger warning-
This is a murder story’: Warrants detail items, note found in home where mother, son were killed-
Saratoga Springs, Utah
Newly unsealed search warrants offer previously undisclosed details about the killings of a Saratoga Springs mother and her 8-year-old…
pic.twitter.com/2zH7ZE5wSi
— Rose (@901Lulu)
July 9, 2025
Jessica’s son sent her some disturbing texts on her phone, from “Do you know how insignificant you are to my life?” to the painful, “I wish I died in your stomach.” DNA analysis on samples found on Jessica and at the scene is still ongoing, and no legally binding charges have been brought in spite of the horrifying language.
The
security camera
of one neighbor could still be vital in the Utah case. Warrants show us that at around 2:30 a.m., someone can be seen sliding through a gap in the fence around the backyard and returning a few minutes later, wearing a white mask that looks like the one that police discovered in the boy’s room.
On that particular evening, no one else was seen coming or going from the area.
A Shattered Family and a Community on Edge
Utah’s Lyman family has sadly stayed devoted to their loss, even though the rumor mill churns on. “We miss Jessica and Eli every single moment of every single day,” they said in a statement to People magazine. The general public is being urged to pray for their loved ones and to reach the Saratoga Springs Police Department should they have any information.
Meanwhile, city officials are cautious but determined.
Based on a police statement put out on July 7, “the families of the victims have been extremely cooperative.”
Jessica Lyman (44) and her son, Eli Painter (8), were both violently murdered in their own home on March 28th. They lived in Saratoga Springs, Utah. No suspects have been named. It has now been over a month.
Neighbors found security camera footage that shows ‘four shadow…
pic.twitter.com/x9B8HoV3tJ
— Rose (@901Lulu)
May 1, 2025
The department stated that its search for justice is still going on and recognized that it did not take part in the unsealed warrant’s availability to the public.
Regardless of the long, strange shadow cast by the proof presented, the case is still open, and Utah police are calling on anyone who may know to step forward. Until then, every person involved could continue to be haunted by “a murder story.”
