Estranged husband admits killing wife, 25, in argument over Nintendo Switch as tragic 911 call is revealed

A retired Marine has confessed to shooting his ex-wife in the head outside her home after they had an argument over a Nintendo Switch.

Ivy Unruh, 25, a PBS engineer and fellow marine veteran, was gunned down outside her apartment block in north-east Wichita, Kansas, about 8am on April 17.

Her ex-husband Joshua Orlando, 29, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Sedgwick County court and faces decades in prison.

Orlando came to the Remington Apartments building early that morning to hand her a bag of possessions after she left him moved out of their home. 

Court documents detailed how he was supposed to leave the bag at her door, but instead waited at the bottom of the stairs to confront her as she left for work.

Orlando asked Unruh why she didn’t want to see him in person, which sparked an argument that he claimed led her to swing the bag into the side of his head.

He allegedly told police the impact of the Switch into his head gave him flashbacks to a January 2025 fight when he claimed she hit him with a replica Zelda sword.

Unruh supposedly attacked him after he threw a slipper at her, and he locked himself in the bathroom to escape. He didn’t report it, but told police he had photos of his injuries on his phone.

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, 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.

‘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.