4A
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2022
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Woodburn mayor
won't run for
Oregon Senate,
encourages
Alonso Leon
to pursue race
APPEAL TRIBUNE
Michael Wolfe takes a guilty
plea in Salem family’s murders
Suspect avoids death
penalty in kidnapping,
homicide of mother, son
Dirk VanderHart
Whitney Woodworth and Capi Lynn
OPB
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
State Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon
came up short last month in a bid
for Congress.
Now a shakeup in the race for a
Salem-area state Senate district
could give her a rare second chance
to stay in public office despite the
defeat.
Woodburn Mayor Eric Swenson,
whom Democratic voters tapped as
their nominee for Senate District 11
in May, announced Friday he’s de-
cided not to run after all. Swenson
said he’ll instead at-
tempt to win another
two-year term as
mayor, and is encour-
aging Alonso Leon to
pursue the Senate
seat instead.
Alonso
“Campaigning for
Leon
the Oregon State
Senate in the Demo-
cratic primary taught me many
things, particularly in Woodburn,
where I was reminded of how much
I appreciate the chance to serve as
our mayor,” Swenson said in a
statement shared with OPB. “This
wasn’t an easy decision to make,
the chance to serve as a state sena-
tor was also calling.”
Swenson’s announcement was
immediately met with speculation
that he ran for the Senate district in
order to act as a placeholder for an-
other eventual candidate, rather
than intending to hold the seat him-
self. Under state law, if a major-par-
ty nominee steps down prior to the
November election, it’s up to the
party to select a replacement. That
creates the possibility that the ulti-
mate nominee could be someone
who did not run for the seat in the
first place.
Swenson filed for the Senate seat
— currently held by Senate Presi-
dent Peter Courtney, D-Salem —
four days before the filing deadline
in March. He denied doing so as a
placeholder candidate.
“I’m an awfully nice person, but I
wouldn’t have thrown myself into a
Senate campaign and spent
months knocking on thousands
and thousands of doors to that end,
and then given all of that up had not
the desire to be my city’s mayor
been this strong,” he said in an
email.
Swenson defeated two other
candidates to win the Democratic
nomination for the district, which
stretches from Salem to Woodburn.
Swenson got 44% of the vote, com-
pared to 34% for attorney Rich
Walsh and 21% for Anthony Rosilez,
director of the state’s Teacher Stan-
dards and Practices Commission.
Rather than voicing support for
one of his former opponents, Swen-
son said Friday he was instead
backing Alonso Leon, a former
Woodburn city councilor.
“Teresa is a transformational
leader with a track record of public
service to our community and she
has my wholehearted support,”
Swenson said in a statement. “Sen-
ate District 11 is the most diverse
district in Oregon, and there are
currently no Latino/a members of
the Oregon Senate. In a representa-
tive democracy, representation
matters.”
A three-term state representa-
tive, Alonso Leon was the first in-
digenous Latina immigrant elected
to the Oregon Legislature. She opt-
ed not to run for re-election this
year, choosing instead to pursue
the Democratic nomination in the
state’s brand new 6th Congression-
al District. She wound up finishing
seventh in the nine-way race.
Alonso Leon did not respond to
an inquiry Friday morning about
whether she would pursue the Sen-
ate seat. Oregon law bars failed
candidates for a major party’s
nomination to run for the same seat
during the general election under a
separate party designation. But in
this case, Alonso Leon would be
running for an entirely different of-
fice.
It’s unclear when Democratic
precinct committee persons within
Senate District 11 will meet to select
a new nominee. Carina Perez Euro-
pa, chair of the Marion County
Democrats, said Friday that the
date would be set by the state party.
Whoever is ultimately nominat-
ed will face state Sen. Kim Thatch-
er, R-Keizer, whose home was in-
cluded in SD 11 during redistricting
last year. Given Thatcher’s long po-
litical career, Alonso Leon’s exist-
ing voter base within much of the
district could give her an advantage
over other possible nominees.
MCMINNVILLE – The man accused
of kidnapping and killing a Salem wom-
an and her 3-year-old son pleaded
guilty Friday to murdering them.
Michael Wolfe’s change of plea took
the death penalty off the table. Under
the stipulated agreement, agreed to by
the court, he will serve life in prison
with a chance of parole after 30 years.
Wolfe is scheduled to be formally
sentenced on July 20.
It’s been 1,131 days since Karrisa Fret-
well, 25, and her son, Billy, vanished
from their West Salem apartment.
Billy’s biological father, Wolfe, 55, of
Gaston, was arrested and charged with
their kidnapping and murders.
For the first time in years, Wolfe ap-
peared in person — not by video — in
Yamhill County Circuit Court.
The man at the bench was almost a
different person from the mug shot and
driver’s license photo shared by police
during the search for Karissa and Billy.
He looked older. His hair was longer,
and his clean-shaven face was replaced
by a full, graying beard.
Deputies led Wolfe into the court-
room shackled and wearing a suit. The
shackles on his hands were removed af-
ter he was seated at the table, but the
restraints on his legs remained.
Three members of Karissa and Billy’s
family sat in the front row with a victim
advocate during the five-minute pro-
ceeding. They were immediately es-
corted out of the courtroom and un-
available for comment. Family will have
an opportunity to give impact state-
ments during the sentencing.
The defendant’s side of the court-
room was empty save for one woman.
She wouldn’t give her name but said she
was related to Wolfe’s ex-wife.
Wolfe responded to multiple ques-
tions from the judge with barely audi-
ble, single-word answers, yes, no and
guilty. His defense attorney, Patrick
John Sweeney, sat to his right and ob-
scured the view for photographers.
His plea comes more than three
years after Karissa and Billy’s disap-
pearance and subsequent deaths
gripped the Willamette Valley commu-
nity.
Wolfe had been scheduled to stand
trial in June 2023.
Tiny photographs of Fretwell and her son were handed out at their July 7, 2019
celebration of life. CAPI LYNN/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Flowers are placed on Karissa Fretwell’s SUV outside her apartment in West
Salem on June 14, 2019. STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE
Violence follows single mother’s
decision to seek child support
Fretwell survived her troubled teen
years to commit wholely to raising her
son while working part-time jobs and
attending Western Oregon University.
When she eventually sought financial
support from Wolfe, who was married
at the time of Billy’s birth, it may have
cost them their lives.
In April 2019, the court ordered Wolfe
to pay Karissa $904 a month. A judge
signed the order May 10. Three days lat-
er, she and Billy disappeared.
Salem Police detectives interviewed
several friends who told officers Karissa
had recently been in court against Bil-
ly’s father.
Wolfe and Karissa had met while she
worked delivering sandwiches. He
called Jimmy John’s almost every day
for delivery, asking specifically for Ka-
rissa to deliver his food.
She was in her early 20s. He was in
his late 40s and married.
He worked in security at Cascade
Steel Rolling Mills, Inc., a manufactur-
ing facility that takes recycled metal
and turns it into finished steel products
such as rebar.
He helped Karissa get a job there in
April 2015 as a part-time security guard.
She was 21.
Wolfe was reportedly not happy
when Karissa got pregnant, and their
relationship ended.
Police questioned Wolfe on May 18 at
his house in Gaston. Wolfe acknowl-
edged having an intimate relationship
with Karissa about four years prior but
said he hadn’t seen her since a child
support hearing on April 15, 2019.
He told them the hearing “did not go
well.”
Wolfe was interviewed again at the
Salem Police Department after being
advised of his Miranda rights. He main-
tained he hadn’t seen Karissa.
Cascade Steel video surveillance and
AT&T phone records contradicted his
claims, placing him near Karissa’s
apartment on the last day she was seen
alive and her phone near his home the
same day, according to court records.
Many of the details were outlined by
Salem Police Detective Anthony Van-
Dekoppel in the probable cause state-
ment used to obtain a warrant for
Wolfe’s arrest.
“Based on the interviews of Karissa’s
family and friends, I believe the only
known person who would benefit from
the disappearance or criminal homicide
Michael Wolfe sits behind his lawyer,
Jack Sweeney, at his change of plea
hearing, at the Yamill County
Courthouse on Friday, June 17, 2022,
in McMinnville, Ore. BRIAN HAYES
of Karissa and William is Michael
(Wolfe),” VanDekoppel wrote in the affi-
davit.
During the investigation, Wolfe also
disappeared briefly. Salem police listed
him as a wanted man.
They searched his rural home in Gas-
ton and another property near Hope-
well on May 23. Wolfe was taken into
custody the next day at Blue Star Do-
nuts in Portland.
He was charged with Karissa’s and
Billy’s murders while they were still
missing.
On June 15, 2019, the bodies of a boy
and a young woman were discovered 10
miles west of Yamhill on heavily-wood-
ed property owned by the timber com-
pany Weyerhaeuser.
They were identified as Karissa and
Billy.
Investigators knew Wolfe was famil-
iar with the area and had a permit to cut
firewood there.
An autopsy determined Karissa died
of a single gunshot to the head and her
death was ruled a homicide.
The cause of Billy’s death was unde-
termined in the autopsy. Officials have
never publicly released information
about whether additional testing
helped determine the cause.
When the Statesman Journal asked
about Billy’s cause of death after the
hearing, Yamhill County District Attor-
ney Brad Berry said it was undeter-
mined.
“That’s how it will remain,” Berry
said. “Nothing about that will change.”
Threat of death penalty
leads to trial delays
Wolfe’s trial was delayed numerous
times, primarily due to a technical legal
fight over how a new state law impacted
the county’s ability to seek the death
penalty.
Friends and family expressed frus-
tration at the slow-turning wheels of
justice.
Wolfe initially faced an aggravated
murder charge for Karissa’s death. It
was dismissed and replaced with
counts of first-degree murder and first-
degree murder constituting domestic
violence following the 2019 passage of
Senate Bill 1013 — a law narrowing the
scope of the death penalty.
Prosecutors pushed forward on
charging Wolfe with aggravated murder
for Billy’s death. If convicted, a jury
could have considered sentencing
Wolfe to death.
Last year, Wolfe’s attorneys unsuc-
cessfully appealed to the Oregon Su-
preme Court to dismiss the charge for
Billy. Attorneys took it a step further
and filed an appeal in January with the
U.S. Supreme Court.
On Feb. 28, the high court denied
Wolfe’s petition, sending the case back
to Yamhill County Circuit Court to con-
tinue proceedings.
A settlement conference led to a plea
hearing being scheduled for Friday.
Thirteen members of law enforce-
ment, including from the Salem Police
Department, and the Yamhill District
Attorney’s Office lined the back row of
the courtroom Friday.
Detectives from Salem Police were
relentless during the investigation,
working around the clock and collabo-
rating with counterparts from the Yam-
hill County Sheriff ’s Office. The case
was heartbreaking for them. Some had
children about Billy’s age and tacked
photos of the boy and his mom above
their desks.
Berry lauded the work of investiga-
tors, highlighting the Salem Police and
Yamhill County.
“This has been a case that the com-
munity has been very involved in,” he
said.
He said it had been a “long three
years” leading to the guilty plea, and he
was happy for Karissa’s and Billy’s fam-
ily and the community.
“We’re pleased for the family that
this is coming to a close,” Berry said. “I
don’t think you really have closure on
these kinds of cases for the family, but it
does end a chapter.”
For questions, comments and news
tips, email reporter Whitney Wood-
worth at wmwoodworth@statesman-
journal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow
on Twitter @wmwoodworth