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Lorena Belle Shaw was not charged with the killing of Steven Morphis. One report said she was sentenced to four years in prison on lesser charges in the case. She faced residential burglary, second-degree arson, first-degree conspiracy to commit theft and first-degree rendering criminal assistance charges. Reports described guilty pleas to residential burglary, conspiracy to commit theft and rendering criminal assistance; another account described those three convictions as coming from a separate trial. The date of her plea and sentencing was not reported.

Her husband, Jeremy James Shaw, went to trial in March 2022. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and second-degree arson in April 2022. On May 13, 2022, King County Superior Court Judge Matthew Williams sentenced him to 548 months, a little over 45 years, the top of the standard range. The Washington Court of Appeals, Division One, affirmed the judgment and sentence in an unpublished opinion on September 18, 2023.

Lorena Belle Shaw was 37 in 2018 and lived with Jeremy James Shaw, then 39, in Tacoma, Washington. He was the listed sole owner of Aryan Enterprises, registered to their home address. In the recording, she describes its work as roofing, pressure washing and general building work. According to charging documents, he had finished a 2012 Pierce County burglary sentence of 87 months in January 2018 and had 15 other convictions dating back to 2001. Morphis, 67, was a recently retired Boeing employee who lived alone on a rural property in unincorporated King County near Renton.

Prosecutors said a search of the Shaws' home uncovered research into several large, single-owner properties with paid-off mortgages, research into adverse possession, and a warranty deed that would have transferred Morphis's home to the Shaws. Lorena Shaw told detectives her husband said he could gain a house through adverse possession and chose Morphis's house after driving past it several times. Prosecutors said Jeremy Shaw pepper-sprayed Morphis and struck him on the head on September 19, 2018. The autopsy found five blows to the head and a slit throat. Items taken included Star Trek collectibles, a Boeing jacket, Morphis's Nissan, his wallet and phone.

The next day, a landscaping contractor returning for tools found a freshly dug, grave-sized hole in the yard and Morphis's body, zip-tied and wrapped in a tarp, in a backyard shed. Just before 5 a.m. on September 21, 2018, the Nissan was found burned out in a University Place parking lot.

King County Sheriff's Office deputies traced attempted charges on Morphis's debit card to Aryan Enterprises, while his phone's location data led them to the Shaws' home. During a September 26, 2018, search, deputies found his shredded bank card and driver's license and some of his Star Trek collectibles. Investigators said Jeremy Shaw was wearing Morphis's Boeing jacket when he was arrested.

Lorena Shaw's police-station interview followed her being taken into custody; its exact date was not reported. At the start, she is read her rights again and confirms she understands the interview is recorded. Detectives question her about the business and inconsistencies in her account. According to charging documents, she told deputies her husband said he had pepper-sprayed Morphis and hit him over the head, told her not to enter the garage, and said they needed to get rid of the car. She said she went through paperwork and property at the house but took nothing. A cheek swab under a warrant is taken at the end of the recording.

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Part 2 of 3 of the recording described above.

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Part 3 of 3 of the recording described above.