Portland, O regon
INSIDE:
Our annual picks
for the best in
winter reading
V.
13
no. 4
December
15, 1995
p a g e 21
.^ J K K S S S l- * ^
Community
Grieves
Two loving, exuberant
Medford lesbians are slain.
Family friends and other
mourners share memories of
Roxanne and Michelle and
vow to continue their work.
,
by Inga Sorensen
ROXANNE ELLIS
H~ ,,. n., i55 lbs.
5 1°n hair - Blue eyes
Light brown ha>
M\CHELLE A® °'LL
C3” 140 >BS-
ox/es
y
Court or
..^versity or Oregon U b r
eceived on: 08-12-96
ust out
PHOTO BY UMM KUEWCR
s we went to press, law en
forcement officials announced
they had arrested Robert
James Acremant, 27, in Stock-
ton, Calif., in the slayings of Roxanne
Ellis and Michelle Abdill.
John Bondurant, chief deputy district
attorney for Jackson County, reportedly
says there is no evidence indicating
Acremant knew Ellis and Abdill were
lesbians.
Acremant moved to Medford with his
mother three weeks ago from Visalia,
C alif., and published reports say
Acremant met Ellis on Nov. 27 when she
showed him and his mother three rental
homes. Police speculate that Acremant
made arrangements to have Ellis show
him one of the rentals again on Dec. A —
the date the women were last seen alive.
Acremant reportedly told his father
he killed the two, and he is suspected of
killing a friend in a separate incident in
California.
Acremant is being held at the San
Joaquin County Jail. He is being held on
an Oregon fugitive warrant pending a
Dec. 19 grand jury hearing in Jackson
County on charges of aggravated mur
der.
Our story takes a look at the contribu
tions Ellis and Abdill made to their com
munity. It also examines how people
were affected immediately following
news of the couple’s disappearance and
subsequent deaths.
A
See page 17