146TH YEAR, NO. 189
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2019
ONE DOLLAR
Murder convictions overturned
criminal mistreatment. But he
also argued the toddler who died
had MRSA — methicillin-resis-
tant Staphylococcus aureus — that
brought about sepsis and organ
failure, and what appeared to be
bite marks were wounds from the
infection.
The appeals court reversed
the homicide-related convictions
and sent the case back to Clatsop
County Circuit Court. The con-
victions that were reversed are
expected to be retried.
District Attorney Ron Brown,
who prosecuted Roden, said when
he received the news during a
meeting, it felt like “a gut punch.”
“I didn’t hear another word
in the meeting,” Brown said. “It
really did just destroy my day.”
Judges concerned by bite-mark testimony
Wing and the abuse of her two
brothers.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the
The Oregon Court of Appeals appeals court found the prosecu-
tion failed to present an
has overturned the mur-
der convictions of a Sea-
adequate scientific foun-
dation for the expert testi-
side man who was found
mony on bite marks found
guilty of killing his girl-
friend’s 2-year-old daugh-
on the victims.
ter, ruling that bite-mark
While the state con-
ceded that admitting the
testimony should not have
evidence was an error, the
been allowed as evidence
Evangelina
state Department of Jus-
at his trial.
Wing
tice argued there was little
Randy Lee Roden was
sentenced to nearly 40
likelihood it influenced the
years in prison in 2016 after a jury jury’s verdicts. The appeals court
found him guilty of murder by found that the bite-mark testimony
abuse, felony murder, manslaugh- was harmless to Roden’s assault
ter, assault and criminal mistreat- and criminal mistreatment convic-
ment in the death of Evangelina tions, but undermined his defense
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Randy Roden exits the courtroom after his verdict is read in 2016.
on the homicide-related counts.
Roden’s attorney had mostly
blamed Dorothy Wing, the chil-
dren’s mother, for the assault and
See Murder, Page A7
Country Media
re-acquires the
Cannon Beach
Gazette
T aking care of
TRAILS
The Daily Astorian
Country Media Inc. has reached
an agreement with EO Media Group
to re-acquire the Cannon Beach
Gazette.
The transaction is effective May 1.
Terms were not disclosed.
Country Media is a family-owned
media corporation based in Salem,
whose principal shareholders are
Carol and Steve Hungerford. Over the
past two decades, the company has
acquired 13 newspapers and related
websites in Montana, North Dakota
and Oregon.
The company owned the Gazette
from 2006 to 2013, when the news-
paper was acquired by EO Media
Group, the parent company of The
Daily Astorian.
“We’re particularly fond of
The Gazette,” said Steve Hun-
gerford. “It was our first Oregon
newspaper.”
“This will be a great opportunity to
rekindle the relationships we enjoyed
so much for the half-dozen years we
were in Cannon Beach.”
Country Media also publishes
newspapers in Lincoln City, Tilla-
mook, Manzanita, St. Helens and
Clatskanie.
See Gazette, Page A7
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Jennifer Sutter clears debris from part of a hiking trail while volunteering for Trailkeepers of Oregon. See the photo gallery on A5 and
a video online at dailyastorian.com
‘THIS WILL BE A
GREAT OPPORTUNITY
TO REKINDLE THE
RELATIONSHIPS WE
ENJOYED SO MUCH
FOR THE HALF-DOZ-
EN YEARS WE WERE IN
CANNON BEACH.’
Steve Hungerford, principal shareholder
Home Bakery to close store
Bakery is known
for cinnamon toast
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The 109-year-old Home
Baking Co. will close its
storefront on March 30.
Jim Tilander, 66, who
co-owns the bakery with
his wife, Kathryn, said the
move will allow him to cut
his hours and transition into
retirement. The bakery is
still for sale.
The couple will also
focus on their wholesale
business sending Astoria
Cinnamon Toast to regional
grocery stores.
“I’m going to sell the
Astoria Cinnamon Toast on
a wholesale level for the
most part, other than my
internet sales,” Tilander
said. “I’m just going to
focus on that at this time,
and I’m going to cease on
the retail sales.”
Since opening in 1910,
Home Baking has made tra-
ditional Finnish cinnamon
toast. The bakery will put
out between 300 and 900
loaves of the cinnamon toast
a week to regional grocery
stores, Tilander said. He is
searching for local opera-
tions to carry the popular
bread.
Home
Baking
was
started by Finnish immi-
grants Elmer Wallo, Char-
lie Jarvanin and Arthur A.
Tilander, whose brother
went down with the Titanic
on his way over to be a part-
ner. It has been run by the
Tilanders since the 1940s.
The 5,000-square-foot,
1928 storefront on Marine
Drive has been listed for
$400,000 with local real
estate agent Victor Kee. The
entire business, including
the building, name, equip-
ment and online presence, is
available for $650,000.
Astoria’s other long-
time bakery, Danish Maid,
closed in 2017 after the
death of co-owner and
baker John Lindstrom. A
new generation of bakeries,
such as The Naked Lemon
and Table 360 Bakery &
Bistro, have opened down-
town, joining the coopera-
tive Blue Scorcher Bakery
& Cafe.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Jim Tilander, co-owner of Home Baking Co. with his wife,
Kathryn, said he is closing his storefront at the end of the month.