Print Version
Email this story
Major criminal cases in Klamath County
Here is a list of current major crime cases in Klamath County (please note that this list includes a wide assortment and variety of crimes, some of which may be very upsetting to readers). Most of these cases are being handled locally. Readers who know of other developments in these or other cases, email mdoyle@heraldandnews.com or news@heraldandnews.com.
Matthew Avina-Norris, 19
Background: Avina-Norris is charged with two counts of aggravated murder and aggravated attempted murder of a third person. He is accused of shooting and killing David Kitts, 22, and Marissa Orlow, 20, of Klamath Falls Aug. 19, 2007, in a Bristol Avenue apartment.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty. He is in custody in the Klamath County Jail.
Update: Trial will begin in May 2009. Discussions are ongoing regarding a security device that would be used to transport Avina-Norris between jail and court and during court proceedings. Jail staff requested the device because of public safety issues. A second grand jury indictment was issued June 25, alleging additional charges of aggravated murder, murder and attempted murder.
Peter Covarrubias, 37
Background: Peter Covarrubias was arrested in September as a material witness in the shooting deaths of David Kitts, 22, and Marissa Orlow, 20, He is charged with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of solicitation to commit murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of attempted murder.
Arraigned: has not been arraigned yet. He is in custody at the Clackamas County Jail for security reasons.
Update: Covarrubias was charged June 25, months after the first arrests in the murder made, following a grand jury investigation.
Richard Earle English, 52
Background: Richard Earle English, 52, of Merrill, is charged with first-degree burglary, strangulation, second-degree assault, fourth-degree assault and attempted murder. He was arrested March 26 for allegedly assaulting his estranged wife.
Arraigned: He was in court March 27 and was in the Klamath County Jail without bail.
Update Thursday, May 15: A 12-person jury trial is scheduled scheduled for Sept. 23.
Roberta Gilmore, 34, and Jennifer Renee Baker, 24
Background: Baker and Gilmore are charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy stemming from a Sept. 12 robbery of the Purple Parrot lounge in Klamath Falls. Baker negotiated a deal and was sentenced to 70-months in prison and three years probation for first-degree robbery. A third suspect, Jaime Harrington, 31, was convicted of first-degree robbery in December and was sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years probation.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Sept. 24, 2007
Update: Trial began, negotiations agreements were made in exchange for guilty pleas.
Eddie Hayes, 46
Background: Hayes is charged with attempted murder for allegedly attacking John Persinger’s left inner thigh with a sword on Halloween 2006. He is in custody at the Klamath County Jail.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Nov. 13, 2006
Update Thursday, May 15: Trial is scheduled for Sept. 17. Pre-trial conferences are ongoing.
Steven Baker, 52, and Kim Baalbergen, 49
Background: The couple was charged in December with three counts of sexual assault of an animal, a misdemeanor. According to court records, Baker told investigators he made $12,000 by selling videotapes made last summer of his girlfriend, Baalbergen, having sex with a dog. The dog was taken to the Humane Society. The couple bailed out of jail after their December arrest.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Dec. 18, 2007.
Update Tuesday, June 10: The trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 3.
James Landers Clem, Jr., 45
Background: Clem was accused March 17 in a federal case for participating in a cockfighting event in southern Oregon. He is charged in U.S. District Court with conspiracy to violate the animal welfare act, traveling in interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise and unlawful animal-fighting venture.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty March 17.
Update Tuesday, June 10: A trial in U.S. District Court in Medford scheduled for May 13 has been postponed.
James Colberg, 50
Background: Colberg was arrested March 5 after police officers matched his car with a vehicle suspected of being involved in a robbery at Gottschalks department store in Klamath Falls.
In it, they found $4,000 worth of heroin, and about $5,100 in watches and other jewelry from the store, authorities said.
He is charged with second-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree theft, possession of heroin and manufacturing/distributing a controlled substance within 1,000-feet of a school. He was released from jail after posting 10 percent of $110,000 bail.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty March 20.
Update Thursday, June 26: Colberg was convicted of first-degree theft and second-degree burglary. He will be sentenced July 15. A second case on charges of DUII and possession of heroin is pending.
David Truman Fry, 32
Background: Fry is accused of shooting at a group of people in front of the Palomino Store in Beatty.
He is charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of reckless endangerment and three counts of unlawful use of a weapon. He allegedly crashed into another car in the store parking lot March 2, and then got into an argument with witnesses. As he drove away, authorities say he fired a .22-caliber revolver toward the witnesses.
Arraigned: March 3, pleaded not guilty.
Update Tuesday, June 10: A trial scheduled for June 4 has been postponed to Aug. 6.
Devin Michael Hilsabeck, 24
Background: Hilsabeck was arrested March 17 and accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old relative over a period of several months. He is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sodomy and two counts of sexual penetration. He is in the Klamath County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty March 18.
Update Thursday, May 15: Hilsabeck's trial will begin Aug. 6.
Leta Johnson, 79
Background: Johnson has several charges pending against her including 10 counts of animal neglect, maintaining a dangerous dog and four counts of letting livestock run at large.
Animals at her ranch were reportedly starving and escaping to find food or were dying when checked on in April 2007, following the unsolved murder of her ranch hand, Ricky Urban.
Arraigned: There are multiple cases pending.
Tuesday, June 24, Update: Attorneys worked out a deal to have Johnson relocate some of the animals and have a Klamath County Humane Society representative check up on them frequently. On June 23, Johnson was rearrested for failing to comply with the plan. She is held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Armando Lara, 25
Background: Lara is charged with driving under the influence and first-degree manslaughter in connection with the Feb. 16 death of Gary Keppen, 73, a coach, avid runner and bicyclist.
Arraigned: Feb. 26, pleaded not guilty. He was released from the Klamath County Jail after posting 10 percent of $50,000 bail.
Update Thursday, June 26, 2008: A trial has been scheduled for Dec. 3. A judge signed a motion in June to allow Lara to leave the state for work purposes.
David Mallette, 33
Background: Mallette is charged with multiple rape, sodomy and sex abuse charges. He allegedly raped two girls, 13 and 14 when the incidents began, more than 100 times over a six-year period. He was arrested June 26 after barricading himself in the A-1 Budget Motel with a handgun.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty in June 2007.
Update Thursday, June 26, 2008: A trial has been postponed and has not been rescheduled. A trial was scheduled for June 18.
Randall Ray Martino, 42
Background: Martino is accused of an assault that involved his wife and 14-year-old stepson, who suffered a butcher knife wound. Martino is charged with attempted murder, rape, assault, criminal mistreatment, strangulation and attempting to elude police.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty May 8.
Update Thursday, June 26: A judge ordered Martino undergo an examination to determine his fitness to proceed with the case.
Martie K. Mitchell, 35
Background: Mitchell is accused of plotting to kill a law enforcement officer. She was charged and arrested in October 2007 with attempted aggravated murder for allegedly contacting a person to purchase a silencer with the intention of killing a county sheriff’s detective. She allegedly was upset with Sgt. Monty Holloway, who investigated drug and child abuse allegations against her.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Oct. 19, 2007.
Update: The court is having hearings about Mitchell’s mental state, but no trial date has been set.
Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Zepeda, 26
Background: Rodriguez-Zepeda is accused of attempting to murder the mother of his children. He is charged with attempted murder, assault, strangulation, menacing, interfering with making a report and reckless endangerment of another. Authorities say on Feb. 24, 2008, he assaulted the victim by slamming her head into a wall and blocking her airway so she couldn’t breath.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty March 5.
Update Thursday, June 25: Rodriguez-Zepeda was convicted of recklessly endangering another person and fourth-degree assault. All other charges were dismissed. He has not yet been sentenced.
Christine Frances Skallerud, 57
Background: Skallerud is charged with the July 17, 2007, murder of her husband, Brent Skallerud, 51, who was fatally shot at their Sprague River Road home in Chiloquin.
She is in custody at the Klamath County Jail with no bail.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty July 26, 2007.
Update Thursday, May 15: The trial scheduled for April 14 has been rescheduled to begin Oct. 3.
Jason Paul Stubbs, 27
Background: Stubbs is accused of sexual abuse, harassment and official misconduct in a Feb. 12 incident with a student at Henley High School. Authorities say a female student went to retrieve her cell phone after class, and Stubbs allegedly touched her buttock and repeatedly asked her what she would do to get it back.
Arraigned: March 18, pleaded not guilty. He was released from the Klamath County Jail after posting bail.
Update Thursday, May 15: Stubbs' trial has been scheduled for Aug. 7.
John Tolleson, 40
Background: John Tolleson is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Austin Tolleson, who died as the result of a Nov. 26, 2006, motor vehicle accident.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty June 5, 2007.
Update: Tolleson’s trial is scheduled for Aug. 18.
Barbara Trotta, 39
Background: Trotta, a Mazama High School special education teacher, is accused of giving prescription painkillers to students and having them buy drugs for her over a two-year period.
She was put on administrative leave by the school district after she was arrested in November 2007. She faces charges of using a minor to distribute controlled substances, using a minor to manufacture a controlled substance, delivering a controlled substance within 1,000-feet of a school, delivering a controlled substance to a minor, endangering the welfare of minors and official misconduct.
Arraigned: Nov. 15, 2007, pleaded not guilty.
Update: Trial scheduled July 29.
Major cases with no arrests:
Murder of Ricky Urban, 46
Background: Urban was a Klamath Falls ranch hand that was shot in the face and killed April 8, 2007, outside his Hill Road home.
Murder of Christina S. Hunt, 56
Background: Hunt was found beaten to death May 29, 2007, in a downtown alley between Main and Pine streets.
Murder of Teri Fuller (aka Teri Lynn Slighton), 45
Background: Fuller’s body was found Aug. 30, 2005, on the Wing Watcher trail east of Highway 97 and south of Main Street. Fuller was living in a tent near the trail. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head.
Matthew Avina-Norris, 19
Background: Avina-Norris is charged with two counts of aggravated murder and aggravated attempted murder of a third person. He is accused of shooting and killing David Kitts, 22, and Marissa Orlow, 20, of Klamath Falls Aug. 19, 2007, in a Bristol Avenue apartment.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty. He is in custody in the Klamath County Jail.
Update: Trial will begin in May 2009. Discussions are ongoing regarding a security device that would be used to transport Avina-Norris between jail and court and during court proceedings. Jail staff requested the device because of public safety issues. A second grand jury indictment was issued June 25, alleging additional charges of aggravated murder, murder and attempted murder.
Peter Covarrubias, 37
Background: Peter Covarrubias was arrested in September as a material witness in the shooting deaths of David Kitts, 22, and Marissa Orlow, 20, He is charged with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of solicitation to commit murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of attempted murder.
Arraigned: has not been arraigned yet. He is in custody at the Clackamas County Jail for security reasons.
Update: Covarrubias was charged June 25, months after the first arrests in the murder made, following a grand jury investigation.
Richard Earle English, 52
Background: Richard Earle English, 52, of Merrill, is charged with first-degree burglary, strangulation, second-degree assault, fourth-degree assault and attempted murder. He was arrested March 26 for allegedly assaulting his estranged wife.
Arraigned: He was in court March 27 and was in the Klamath County Jail without bail.
Update Thursday, May 15: A 12-person jury trial is scheduled scheduled for Sept. 23.
Roberta Gilmore, 34, and Jennifer Renee Baker, 24
Background: Baker and Gilmore are charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy stemming from a Sept. 12 robbery of the Purple Parrot lounge in Klamath Falls. Baker negotiated a deal and was sentenced to 70-months in prison and three years probation for first-degree robbery. A third suspect, Jaime Harrington, 31, was convicted of first-degree robbery in December and was sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years probation.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Sept. 24, 2007
Update: Trial began, negotiations agreements were made in exchange for guilty pleas.
Eddie Hayes, 46
Background: Hayes is charged with attempted murder for allegedly attacking John Persinger’s left inner thigh with a sword on Halloween 2006. He is in custody at the Klamath County Jail.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Nov. 13, 2006
Update Thursday, May 15: Trial is scheduled for Sept. 17. Pre-trial conferences are ongoing.
Steven Baker, 52, and Kim Baalbergen, 49
Background: The couple was charged in December with three counts of sexual assault of an animal, a misdemeanor. According to court records, Baker told investigators he made $12,000 by selling videotapes made last summer of his girlfriend, Baalbergen, having sex with a dog. The dog was taken to the Humane Society. The couple bailed out of jail after their December arrest.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Dec. 18, 2007.
Update Tuesday, June 10: The trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 3.
James Landers Clem, Jr., 45
Background: Clem was accused March 17 in a federal case for participating in a cockfighting event in southern Oregon. He is charged in U.S. District Court with conspiracy to violate the animal welfare act, traveling in interstate commerce in aid of a racketeering enterprise and unlawful animal-fighting venture.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty March 17.
Update Tuesday, June 10: A trial in U.S. District Court in Medford scheduled for May 13 has been postponed.
James Colberg, 50
Background: Colberg was arrested March 5 after police officers matched his car with a vehicle suspected of being involved in a robbery at Gottschalks department store in Klamath Falls.
In it, they found $4,000 worth of heroin, and about $5,100 in watches and other jewelry from the store, authorities said.
He is charged with second-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree theft, possession of heroin and manufacturing/distributing a controlled substance within 1,000-feet of a school. He was released from jail after posting 10 percent of $110,000 bail.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty March 20.
Update Thursday, June 26: Colberg was convicted of first-degree theft and second-degree burglary. He will be sentenced July 15. A second case on charges of DUII and possession of heroin is pending.
David Truman Fry, 32
Background: Fry is accused of shooting at a group of people in front of the Palomino Store in Beatty.
He is charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of reckless endangerment and three counts of unlawful use of a weapon. He allegedly crashed into another car in the store parking lot March 2, and then got into an argument with witnesses. As he drove away, authorities say he fired a .22-caliber revolver toward the witnesses.
Arraigned: March 3, pleaded not guilty.
Update Tuesday, June 10: A trial scheduled for June 4 has been postponed to Aug. 6.
Devin Michael Hilsabeck, 24
Background: Hilsabeck was arrested March 17 and accused of sexually abusing a 5-year-old relative over a period of several months. He is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sodomy and two counts of sexual penetration. He is in the Klamath County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty March 18.
Update Thursday, May 15: Hilsabeck's trial will begin Aug. 6.
Leta Johnson, 79
Background: Johnson has several charges pending against her including 10 counts of animal neglect, maintaining a dangerous dog and four counts of letting livestock run at large.
Animals at her ranch were reportedly starving and escaping to find food or were dying when checked on in April 2007, following the unsolved murder of her ranch hand, Ricky Urban.
Arraigned: There are multiple cases pending.
Tuesday, June 24, Update: Attorneys worked out a deal to have Johnson relocate some of the animals and have a Klamath County Humane Society representative check up on them frequently. On June 23, Johnson was rearrested for failing to comply with the plan. She is held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Armando Lara, 25
Background: Lara is charged with driving under the influence and first-degree manslaughter in connection with the Feb. 16 death of Gary Keppen, 73, a coach, avid runner and bicyclist.
Arraigned: Feb. 26, pleaded not guilty. He was released from the Klamath County Jail after posting 10 percent of $50,000 bail.
Update Thursday, June 26, 2008: A trial has been scheduled for Dec. 3. A judge signed a motion in June to allow Lara to leave the state for work purposes.
David Mallette, 33
Background: Mallette is charged with multiple rape, sodomy and sex abuse charges. He allegedly raped two girls, 13 and 14 when the incidents began, more than 100 times over a six-year period. He was arrested June 26 after barricading himself in the A-1 Budget Motel with a handgun.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty in June 2007.
Update Thursday, June 26, 2008: A trial has been postponed and has not been rescheduled. A trial was scheduled for June 18.
Randall Ray Martino, 42
Background: Martino is accused of an assault that involved his wife and 14-year-old stepson, who suffered a butcher knife wound. Martino is charged with attempted murder, rape, assault, criminal mistreatment, strangulation and attempting to elude police.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty May 8.
Update Thursday, June 26: A judge ordered Martino undergo an examination to determine his fitness to proceed with the case.
Martie K. Mitchell, 35
Background: Mitchell is accused of plotting to kill a law enforcement officer. She was charged and arrested in October 2007 with attempted aggravated murder for allegedly contacting a person to purchase a silencer with the intention of killing a county sheriff’s detective. She allegedly was upset with Sgt. Monty Holloway, who investigated drug and child abuse allegations against her.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty Oct. 19, 2007.
Update: The court is having hearings about Mitchell’s mental state, but no trial date has been set.
Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Zepeda, 26
Background: Rodriguez-Zepeda is accused of attempting to murder the mother of his children. He is charged with attempted murder, assault, strangulation, menacing, interfering with making a report and reckless endangerment of another. Authorities say on Feb. 24, 2008, he assaulted the victim by slamming her head into a wall and blocking her airway so she couldn’t breath.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty March 5.
Update Thursday, June 25: Rodriguez-Zepeda was convicted of recklessly endangering another person and fourth-degree assault. All other charges were dismissed. He has not yet been sentenced.
Christine Frances Skallerud, 57
Background: Skallerud is charged with the July 17, 2007, murder of her husband, Brent Skallerud, 51, who was fatally shot at their Sprague River Road home in Chiloquin.
She is in custody at the Klamath County Jail with no bail.
Arraigned: Pleaded not guilty July 26, 2007.
Update Thursday, May 15: The trial scheduled for April 14 has been rescheduled to begin Oct. 3.
Jason Paul Stubbs, 27
Background: Stubbs is accused of sexual abuse, harassment and official misconduct in a Feb. 12 incident with a student at Henley High School. Authorities say a female student went to retrieve her cell phone after class, and Stubbs allegedly touched her buttock and repeatedly asked her what she would do to get it back.
Arraigned: March 18, pleaded not guilty. He was released from the Klamath County Jail after posting bail.
Update Thursday, May 15: Stubbs' trial has been scheduled for Aug. 7.
John Tolleson, 40
Background: John Tolleson is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Austin Tolleson, who died as the result of a Nov. 26, 2006, motor vehicle accident.
Arraigned: He pleaded not guilty June 5, 2007.
Update: Tolleson’s trial is scheduled for Aug. 18.
Barbara Trotta, 39
Background: Trotta, a Mazama High School special education teacher, is accused of giving prescription painkillers to students and having them buy drugs for her over a two-year period.
She was put on administrative leave by the school district after she was arrested in November 2007. She faces charges of using a minor to distribute controlled substances, using a minor to manufacture a controlled substance, delivering a controlled substance within 1,000-feet of a school, delivering a controlled substance to a minor, endangering the welfare of minors and official misconduct.
Arraigned: Nov. 15, 2007, pleaded not guilty.
Update: Trial scheduled July 29.
Major cases with no arrests:
Murder of Ricky Urban, 46
Background: Urban was a Klamath Falls ranch hand that was shot in the face and killed April 8, 2007, outside his Hill Road home.
Murder of Christina S. Hunt, 56
Background: Hunt was found beaten to death May 29, 2007, in a downtown alley between Main and Pine streets.
Murder of Teri Fuller (aka Teri Lynn Slighton), 45
Background: Fuller’s body was found Aug. 30, 2005, on the Wing Watcher trail east of Highway 97 and south of Main Street. Fuller was living in a tent near the trail. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head.
 |
||
| Public safety |
RSS