SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 37, NO. 44
SECTION A
OCTOBER 2, 2015
$1.00
Meth dealer off hook in murder
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
So what about the drug
dealer?
Last week, Brett A. Pearson
and friend Robert D. Miller II
were sentenced to life in pris-
on for the murder of Brett’s
mom Michelle and the at-
tempted murder of his father,
Wilfred “Bill” Pearson. The
two teens will be eligible for
parole after 40 years.
For some neighbors, how-
ever, a lingering question was
left unanswered: what about
the person who got the teens
hooked on methamphet-
amine?
No one disputes the teens
were on methamphetamine
on the night of March 5,
2014. Both Brett and Miller
acknowledged in court docu-
ments they had done meth
leading up to the incident, in-
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Brett Pearson speaks during his sentencing in front of Judge
Dale Penn on Sept. 23.
Surprise! Haggen
closes quietly
cluding on the night in ques-
tion. Both acknowledge Mi-
chelle died of a single gunshot
from Miller, who also fi red
multiple shots at Bill. Brett
then picked up the gun and
shot his father twice. Bill re-
covered from the shots.
Shortly after the Keizertimes
posted a picture on Facebook
of Brett Pearson at his Sept. 23
sentencing, neighbor Nancy
Baldwin made a post.
“I have known him since
he (was) 3 years old,” Baldwin
posted. “Sad for everyone. The
main culprit behind all this
was never arrested. And that
hurts.”
When asked who the main
culprit was, Baldwin’s son
James posted it was “the meth
dealer” who was not charged
in the case.
“The reason he’s not in-
volved is because he turned
informant,” James posted. “I
hope (the Keizer Police De-
partment) caught the bigger
fi sh they were looking for.”
In an interview Monday
with the Keizertimes, Baldwin
didn’t name the meth dealer
but believes a deal was made.
“He turned snitch and
walked away,” Baldwin said.
“Why (the police) didn’t fol-
low up, I don’t know.”
Brendan Murphy, the Mar-
ion County Deputy District
Attorney who tried the case,
said there’s a reason the dealer
was never charged.
“There is no reason to
think there is any other in-
volvement from anybody else
with criminal culpability in
this case,” Murphy said. “We
have no reason to believe any-
one else had knowledge of
what was going to happen.”
Area C math
fi gured out
PAGE A2
Please see DEALER, Page A9
A helping hand
Barbershop
is all aces
PAGE A6
Masaki Takisawa
(center) poses
with the Smedema
family: Gunner, 11,
Jessica, Gage, 9
and Mike.
KEIZERTIMES/
Lyndon A. Zaitz
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
The Keizer Haggen closed last weekend; this is how the vacant
store looked on Monday morning.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
The Keizer Haggen was
here only a short time, but it
was a memorable time.
Not necessarily for the best
of reasons, however.
In the span of several
months, the Washington-based
grocery chain went from 18
stores to announcing plans
for 146 new stores (including
Keizer), opening those stores,
announcing the closing of
most of those stores, getting
into a bitter legal battle with
Albertsons and fi nally an-
nouncing the chain will only
keep 37 total stores.
The former Albertsons at
5450 River Road North in
the Keizer Creekside Shop-
ping Center was converted to
a Haggen in less than 48 hours
in late April.
In mid-August, however,
the Keizer Haggen was one of
27 stores on a closure list. No
fi nal date was listed, with the
store slated to close within 60
days. Company offi cials didn’t
respond to multiple requests
from the Keizertimes for an
exact date.
Apparently the date was last
Sunday, Sept. 27. When the
Keizertimes went by the store
on Sept. 24, signs indicated
the store was closing in four
days. When a reporter stopped
by the store again on Mon-
day, Sept. 28, not only was
the store closed, shelves were
empty and some of the shelves
were gone altogether.
Anthony Marin of Keiz-
er was among those caught
surprised by the closure. He
stopped by Monday morn-
ing in hopes of getting great
closeout deals, only to be
greeted by a locked door.
Please see HAGGEN, Page A9
Harboring Doubt
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Linda Baker as Sister Aloysius and Claire Clubb as Mrs.
Muller in dress rehearsals for Keizer Homegrown Theatre's
Doubt , which opens Oct. 9. See the full story on Page A5.
By LYNDON ZAITZ
Of the Keizertimes
The telephone call came
out of the blue.
Late one evening in Sep-
tember Mike Smedema re-
ceived a call from the fam-
ily that had bought his house
elsewhere in Keizer. The caller
said they had been visited by
a Japanese man with a bicy-
cle looking for the Smedema
family.
The man was 21-year-old
Masaki Takisawa. The Smede-
ma family hosted him as an
exchange student in 2012 as
part of a program to help Japa-
nese kids affected by the tsu-
nami. The young man got to
the Smedema’s previous house
by memory. After a 2,900-
mile bicycle ride. Across the
United States. Alone.
The reunion of Masaki
(who goes by Masa) and the
Smedema family was emo-
tional and joyous.
Masa wanted to fi nd adven-
ture and challenge himself and
he wanted to see the United
States. He decided to start his
trek in Charleston, South Car-
olina and ride west. He chose
to start on the east coast be-
cause for more than 100 years
immigrants to America landed
in the east and made their way
westward.
Working part-time in his
home town Iwate Prefec-
ture on the northern end of
Honshu Island, Masa raised
about $5,000 for his six-week
journey. He is also currently a
university student studying to
become a teacher.
Please see MASA, Page A9
Stories
We Like
PAGE A10
Saluting the people that make
us proud of our community
capitolauto.com
Man killed on Chemawa
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
A 68-year-old pedestrian
was killed while attempting to
cross Chemawa Road last Fri-
day, Sept. 25.
Keizer resident James Al-
ton was crossing Chemawa at
Newberg Drive North when
he was struck by an eastbound
1999 Ford Ranger pickup
shortly after 7:30 a.m. Che-
mawa was closed from De-
light Street to Crater Street
for nearly three hours as law
enforcement personnel inves-
tigated the incident.
The 49-year-old Salem
female driving the Ranger
was not arrested or charged
by Keizer Police Department
offi cers and fully cooperated
with offi cers during the inves-
tigation.
“An older gentleman was
crossing the road and walked
right in front of the pickup,”
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
A 68-year-old Keizer man was killed Sept. 25 when he
attempted to cross Chemawa Road and was struck by the
pickup seen on the left.
Lt. Andrew Copeland with
the KPD said from the scene.
“There was nothing criminal
in nature. The guy didn’t make
it.”
Medics from the Keizer
Fire District transported Alton
to Salem Hospital, where he
was pronounced deceased.
Assisting the KPD were
personnel from the Marion
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce and
Oregon State Police. Accord-
Lady Celts
on a roll
ing to Copeland, the driver of
the Ranger indicated she did
not see Alton as he crossed the
road.
Items seen on the roadway
after the incident included
a shoe and a partially empty
bottle of pop. The incident
happened about a block west
of the intersection of Delight
and Chemawa, which has a
signal and crosswalk.
Please see KILLED, Page A9
McKay upsets
McNary
PAGE A11