SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 40, NO. 48
SECTION A
SEPTEMBER 6, 2019
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Former councilor will
try to unseat Schrader
HIGH SCHOOL
FOOTBALL
PREVIEW
Amy Ryan Courser tosses hat into Congressional ring
Amy Ryan Courser
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Keizer residents might
notice a familiar name on
their Republican primary
ballots in 2020.
Amy Ryan Courser, a
former Keizer city councilor,
announced this week she
intends to challenge Rep.
Kurt Schrader (D-Canby) for
his seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Courser, who went by
Amy Ryan when she was
on the city council, said
she’s contemplated a run for
Congress throughout the past
two years, but it’s the right
time now.
“With my time on the city
council, I had the opportunity
to be at the larger table and
work through the learning
curve of how policy is made,”
she said.
Courser was elected to
the city council in 2014 and
served until January 2019.
She
set
her sights on
S c h r a d e r ’s
seat, Oregon’s
fi fth district,
out of a sense
of
growing
frustration
during
her
times in the
same
room
with Schrader.
“I was constantly frustrated
by the lack of answers and
excuses for not knowing
what’s going on in our
backyard. It was multiple
a large swath of the central
Oregon
coast
between
Lincoln
and
Tillamook
counties.
Courser said her list of
concerns is long, but she is
most
intent
on listening at
the moment.
She and her
team are in
the process of
setting up lis-
tening sessions
throughout
— Amy Ryan Courser the 5th Dis-
trict that will
be known as
55 incorporated town and “Heart-to-Hearts with Amy.”
cities with about 770,000
The fi rst listening session for
residents. It includes portions the candidate will be Saturday,
of Marion County, Clackamas Sept. 7, in Keizer at Jeff and
County, Yamhill County and Sheryl’s, 165 McNary Estates
regional issues, a multitude
of things. With all the issues
our state is facing, I didn’t see
leadership,” Ryan said.
As of the 2010 Census,
Oregon’s 5th District covered
“ I was constantly frustrated by
the lack of answers and
excuses for not knowing what’s
going on in our backyard.”
Drive. It begins at 10 a.m.
Topping the list of
Courser’s personal concerns
is healthcare. On Tuesday,
Sept. 3, she spoke with the
Keizertimes during a surgery
appointment for her father, a
veteran.
“My dad went in today for
surgery at the VA (Veteran’s
Administration) and it is a
complete mess. Firsthand,
I am dealing with that
and seeing it’s not being
addressed. The VA is fl ooded
with need and people are
dying,” Courser said.
While she is able to act as an
advocate for her father, others
might not be as fortunate,
Courser said.
Zielinski re-convicted of murdering wife
Brendan Murphy and Katie
Suver were prepared for the
new defense position. The
prosecution brought forth
witness after witness to detail
Zielinski’s relationship with
Lisa. Witnesses called to testify
Payton kept asking over and
over again, ‘Why did she have
to die? Why did she have to go
to heaven?’
— Det. Emanie Bravo,
Marion County Sheriff’s Offi ce
Lisa Zielinski
mental health.
Due to this exclusion,
Zielinski, who originally pled
not guilty, changed his plea
to guilty with the condition
that he could appeal the
judge’s decision. It resulted in
a sentence of 25 years to life
in prison with a possibility of
for his actions based on the
mental health diagnosis he
received. Oregon law allows
for an extreme emotional
disturbance (EED) defense.
Zielinski’s attorneys were
required by law to notify the
prosecution that this would be
their tactic.
Deputy district attorneys
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PAGE A2
Photo by KEIZERTIMES/Dee Moore
parole.
Zielinski’s
appeal
was
granted in 2017 and his
sentence overturned, the case
was sent back to the circuit
court. Zielinski had hoped to
be able to mount a defense
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Hoop schemes
again
Zielinski was previously
tried for murder in 2013
during which the presiding
Judge Dale Penn, siding with
the state’s attorney’s, excluded
psychological
testimony
relating to the defendant’s
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Please see COURSER, Page A6
Guilty
By DEE MOORE
For the Keizertimes
For the second time in six
years Peter Zielinski sat in
the Marion County Circuit
Court and heard the words
“We the jury…do fi nd the
defendant on the charge of
murder, guilty.” Zielinski was
charged with the murder in
2011 of his wife, Lisa.
Zielinski was stoic as he
sat between his two attorneys,
Matthew Tracey and Aaron
Jeffers. Their hope for a lesser
charge or acquittal were
dashed as the judge continued
to read the rest of the
jury’s verdict to the packed
courtroom.
“Was
the
defendant
acting under the infl uence
of an extreme emotional
disturbance
when
he
intentionally caused the death
of Lisa Zielinski? No.”
After eight days of
testimony, Zielinski is once
again facing a life sentence
for the murder. He was slated
to appear for sentencing on
Thursday, Sept. 5.
SECTION B
described his controlling
behavior.
Corey Smith, once one
of Zielinski’s closest friends,
testifi ed that the defendant’s
attitude was “my way or no
way” that he “liked to win, he
didn’t want to lose” whether
it was a game or an argument.
His church attendance, job
history, fi nancial struggles and
past lovers were brought forth
to demonstrate Zielinski’s
self-involvement and lack of
concern for others.
Two
heartwrenching
moments during the trial
came when the prosecution
played video-taped interviews
with the defendant’s children
which were made the day
of Lisa’s murder. His oldest
child Hunter, a daughter from
a prior relationship, was 11
years old at the time she was
interviewed by the Keizer
police.
His daughter with Lisa,
Payton, was 5 years old when
she was interviewed at Liberty
House. At the time, neither
child knew that Lisa was dead.
While Payton had been home
at the time of Lisa’s death she
was not aware of it. Hunter
was staying with her mother
that week.
Det. Emanie Bravo of the
Marion County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce testifi ed that she
Please see GUILTY, Page A7
Gators get
new cafeteria
PAGE A4
Boys soccer
preview
PAGE A14