Desiree Sunford, a passionate middle school art teacher, harbored dreams of building a family. Tragically, at the age of 30, her aspirations were cut short when she was brutally murdered in her Washington home in April 2013. This heartbreaking story is featured in Oxygen’s series Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins.

Former Yakima County Sheriff’s Deputy, Ed Levesque, described the grim scene, stating, “It almost looked like she was shot, chased down and then executed.” The chilling nature of the crime stunned the community and left investigators scrambling for answers.

As detectives delved into the case, they uncovered a web of deceit and betrayal within Desiree’s personal life, revealing complexities and hidden truths that would lead them to a most unexpected perpetrator.

The tragic sequence of events began when Desiree’s husband, Scott Sunford, was traveling back from a family funeral in the Tri-Cities. At 8:28 p.m. on April 7, 2013, he made a frantic call to 911, unaware of the shocking discovery that awaited him at home.

Scott believed the robber may have returned for a second time, but Detective Dave Johnson contended that it was “very rare” for a robber to return to carry out a homicide.

“In our opinion, this killer wasn’t there to burglarize a house,” he said. “The sole purpose was to kill Desiree.”

Scott Sanford Admits to Being With Other Woman, Claims it Was Polyamorous

It was a tragic end to a relationship that began when Scott and Desiree were both in high school. The couple tied the knot in 2003, just as Scott was preparing to be deployed with the Army Reserves. For eight years, they navigated long deployments until Scott came home in 2011 and secured a job at a Yakima military training center.

Desiree—who was a beloved middle school art teacher—had been hoping to start a family with Scott when she was killed. 

In an interview with police, Scott described his marriage as “great,” but as the conversation went on, he revealed something unusual: Scott claimed that he and his wife had a three-way relationship with a woman named Paige Blades, calling it “a little experiment.”

A calm and composed Scott told detectives that after his aunt’s funeral he’d stayed at Paige’s house in Wharton, about 100 miles away, before making his way back to Yakima the next night.

Yet, when investigators talked to Desiree’s friends, they doubted that she would have agreed to share her husband with another woman. 

Paige Blades Texts Desiree Sanford She Wants to “Do Away” With Her

Text messages revealed that Desiree did have at least one sexual experience on her own with Paige—who once lived with the couple—but the messages also showed that she didn’t approve of any relationship between Paige and Scott. 

Desiree texted, “I still have to say that you two doing anything sexual would bother me.” 

Paige replied that anything sexual between them would be “out of the question.” 

“Scott and Paige would have us believe that it was a three-way, consensual relationship,” Levesque said. “That’s clearly not the case. Desiree has no idea that Paige and Scott were the ones having the affair.”

The text messages also revealed that, over time, the women’s friendship had deteriorated, with Paige texting at one point “I’m fairly convinced that in the event of your demise, I would be the chosen one.” 

Desiree responded by asking Paige to stay away from her and her family.

“Not a problem,” Paige told her in reply. “I’ve been wanting to do away with you for quite a while now.”

Detectives also learned Paige was pregnant and believed that Scott was the father—although that would later turn out not to be the case.

Investigation Takes Surprising Turn as New Suspect is Revealed

Investigators found the situation suspicious, but without any hard evidence the case went cold. Cell phone records also backed up Scott and Paige’s claims that they had been miles away the morning Desiree was killed. 

Then, in July 2015, an anonymous tip came in pointing investigators toward Marty Grismer. Strangely, investigators were able to track the call back to Paige. 

After agreeing to come in to tell authorities more, Paige revealed that Marty was a platonic friend who was “obsessed” with her, adding, “He worships the ground I walk on.” 

According to Paige, Marty had confessed to killing Desiree, believing it would clear the way for her to be with Scott.

“Marty confessed to her that he did this for her,” Levesque said. “He was so infatuated with Paige that he would do anything for her.” 

Paige—who insisted she had nothing to do with the plot—agreed to wear a wire to try to get Marty to confess again, but he remained tight lipped during their meeting.

Then, authorities got a call from Marty’s employer, who had discovered pieces of a gun hidden in their office. The weapon, which was traced to Marty, was found to be a match to the crime scene.

Marty was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. In 2017, he entered an Alford plea—which didn’t admit guilt but agreed that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him—to charges of second-degree murder in exchange for a 15-year sentence.

Authorities never found any evidence to link Paige or Scott to the crime and concluded Marty acted alone.

For Desiree’s friends and family, it didn’t change the senseless nature of the killing.

“It didn’t need to happen,” her aunt Ruby Keenan said. “The world lost a good person, a really good person.”