August 29,2001
Page A2
Hit and Run Driver Wanted
The Portland Police Bureau
Traffic D ivision, in cooperation
with Crim e Stoppers, is once
again asking for your help in
solving a felony hit and run to a
pedestrian.
Shortly after m idnight on the
m orning o f M onday, M ay 21,
41-year-old Pablo Estrada was
struck by a hit and run vehicle
while crossing Southeast Powell
B oulevard at 136,h Avenue.
A ccording to investigators,
Estrada w as w alking from the
north to the south side o f Pow ell
when an eastbound car struck
him. The vehicle continued east-
bound on Pow ell w ithout stop­
ping. Estrada w as transported to
an area hospital w here he later
died as a result o f his injuries.
W itnesses described the car as a
white mid-size sedan with a boxy
shape and black side moldings.
C rim e Stoppers is offering a
cash rew ard o f up to $ 1,000 for
inform ation, reported to Crim e
Stoppers, w hich leads to an ar­
rest in this case, or any unsolved
felony crime, and you can remain
anonymous. Call Crime Stoppers
at503-823-HELP.
Pablo Estrada died from
injuries in a hit and run
accident last May.
Matilde Perez-Merino
fam ily did not know o f her p reg­
nancy. She said she had delivered
a baby som e tim e before, and was
experiencing com plications.
P erez-M erino checked into a
G resham hospital Aug. 18, seek-
ing treatm ent follow ing an appar­
ent childbirth.
She d id n 't bring a baby with
her, causing hospital officials to
call police, said D an O ldham , a
M ultnom ah County S h eriff’s O f­
fice spokesm an.
M ultnom ah C ounty s h e riff s
deputies found the full-term baby
b o y 's body in tw o garbage bags.
The baby had been dead for 12
hours and m aybe as long as two
days.
The baby w as b om alive with
no m edical conditions that could
have led to his death, said the
state m edical exam iner.
The cause o f death w as deter­
m ined to be suffocation or lack o f
post-birth care.
Man Charged in
Acid Etching Vandalism
O ffic e rs T e re s a U ttk e and
D an C o s te llo o f th e S o u th ­
e a st P re c in c t N e ig h b o rh o o d
R e sp o n se T eam a rre s te d
T ra v is D e lo n W a lle n d e r, 24,
last w eek, in c o n n e c tio n w ith
e tc h in g v a n d a lis m to s e v ­
e ra l b u s in e s s e s n e a r S o u th ­
The Portland Fire Bureau will
bill Union Pacific Railroad for the
cost o f fighting an urban w ildfire
that threatened a North Portland
neighborhood Aug. 8, bureau o f­
ficials said.
The b u reau 's final investiga­
tion report, concludes that a Union
Pacific train with mechanical prob­
lem s started the brush fire that
quickly clim bed a bluff near the
U niversity o f Portland, said N eil
H eesacker, bureau spokesm an.
Investigators have been un­
able to determ ine w hat created the
sparks that several w itnesses saw
com ing from under the passing
tra in 's cars, he said.
“ All 40 o f the cars have split up
and gone to w ho know s where
across the country,” H eesacker
said, and investigators h av en 't
been able to look at them.
T he fire threatened as many as
100 h o m e s a n d to o k 170
firefighters, every fire truck in the
city, helicopters and fireboats to
battle.
Union Pacific is still investigat­
ing, said M ike Furtney, a U nion
Pacific spokesm an. The railroad
has not accepted responsibility
for the fire.
The blaze w as one o f the worst
wildfires in Portland'shistory. But
the bureau estim ated property loss
along the blackened bluff on the
Willamette River’s east bank at only
about $20,000. That am ount was
for lost property, ranging from a
greenhouse to a solarium to four
wooden decks.
Dance Club Killer Sentenced to Death
Mother Charged in Baby’s Death
A w om an accused o f m urder­
ing her new born son and leaving
his body near a garbage bin told a
friend she w as trying to hide the
pregnancy from her fam ily, ac­
cording to court docum ents.
M atilde Perez-M erino, 24, o f
W ood V illage, w as arraigned last
W ednesday on charges o f m ur­
der by abuse and abuse o f a
corpse. She pleaded not-guilty to
both charges.
P erez-M erino does not speak
Spanish, but a very rare Indian
dialect from M exico. Q uestions
rem ain as to w hether Perez-M e­
rino would understand the charges
against her.
A ccording to court docum ents,
Perez-M erino told a friend that her
Union Pacific Charged For Bluff Fire
e a s t 3 3 rd an d B e lm o n t.
T he r e p o r te d v a lu e o f th e
d a m a g e , w h ic h o c c u r re d o n
A u g . 15 a n d A u g . 16, e x c e e d s
$16,000.
T h e o f fic e r s in c h a r g e o f
th e in v e s tig a tio n b e lie v e th a t
a d d itio n a l c rim e s m a y h a v e
ta k e n p la c e an d h a v e y e t to
b e re p o rte d to th e P o rtla n d
P o lic e B u reau .
In v e s tig a to r s a re e n c o u r ­
a g in g a n y o n e w h o h a v e
p r o p e rty d a m a g e d b y ac id
to c a ll O ff ic e r T e re s a U ttk e
at5 0 3 -8 2 3 -2 1 5 5 .
(AP) - A W ashington C ounty
jury sentenced an A loha m an to
death last w eek for the 1998 m ur­
der o f a 15-year-old T igard girl.
M artin A llen Johnson, 44,
found guilty last w eek o f ag g ra­
vated m urder in the death o f
H eather Fay Fraser, is the 26th
man on O reg o n ’s death row.
“It w o n ’t bring H eather back,
but I’m so glad it’s over,” said
Ronda Fraser, Heather’s mother.
T o apply the death penalty, all
12 jurors had to find that Johnson
deliberately killed Fraser, that he
is a continuing threat to society
and there were no circumstances
in his background to mitigate
against execution.
D uring the trial, several girls
testified that Johnson took them
to Portland dance clubs, bought
them presents, supplied them with
alcohol, slipped m orphine into
their drinks or knocked them out
by m aking them sm ell drugged-
soaked rags. Some said they awoke
to find Johnson sexually assault­
ing them.
D r. N ik o la s H a r ts h o r n e ,
O re g o n 's deputy state m edical
exam iner, perform ed the autopsy
on Fraser. He said she had enough
m orphine in her body to knock her
out and that she died o f strangu­
lation, as evidenced by the bruises
around the sides o f her neck, the
deep bruise inside the back o f her
neck and the broken blood ves­
sels on her face.
P ro s e c u to r s sa id Jo h n so n
threw the g irl’s body into a river in
hopes that it w ould drift to the sea.
Instead, the body w ashed up on
S o cial S ecu rity B each, near
W arrenton in C latsop C ounty.
“ He preyed upon everyone
he sold drugs to ,” said Rob
Bletko, the c h ief deputy district
attorney.
D avid Peters, Jo h n so n ’s at­
torney, agreed that there w as no
question that Johnson w as a
sexual predator.
“He is a m essed-up, screw ed-
up hum an being,” Peters said in
his closing argum ents. “He is
sick. He d o esn ’t fit in w ell with
society. He c a n ’t handle resp o n ­
sibility.”
H ow ever, Peters argued that
Johnson did w ell in prison and
w ould not be a threat to young
girls w ere he to receive a sen­
tence o f life in prison w ithout
parole.
Domestic Partner Benefits Triumph
(A P) - The W ashington Su­
prem e Court has upheld the city o f
V ancouver’s policy o fgiving ben­
efits to the dom estic partners o f
city em ployees.
The eight-to-one decision will
likely stretch beyond the c ity ’s
borders. O ther cities in W ashing­
ton and the state have sim ilar
policies.
The policy allow s dom estic
partners — including sam e-sex
partners — to receive health in­
surance benefits. A nd it allow s
em ployees to use th eir sick leave
to care for partners o r partners’
children.
V a n c o u v e r r e s id e n t R o n i
H einsm a challenged the policy,
arguing that it created a kind o f
m ini-m arriage. S tate law forbids
same-sex marriage.
H e in s m a ’s c h a lle n g e w as
backed by the A lliance Defense
Fund and the N o rth star Legal
C enter, two groups dedicated to
conservative C hristian issues.
But the justices agreed with the
city that the regulation ofem ployee
benefits is a local matter.
City officials say they began
the policy to help recruit and re­
tain em ployees.
Since the policy w as initiated
in 1998, at least 29 dom estic p art­
nerships have been registered and
approved. The city paid m ore than
20-thousand dollars to cover the
cost o f the policy in 1998.
UP
President
Issues
Campus
Gag
Order
The president o f the U ni- 1
versity o f Portland threat­
ened to fire sta ff m em bers
who talk to new s reporters
about the recent m urder on
campus.
In a m e m o s e n t o u t
th ro u g h o u t th e c a m p u s,
President D avid Tyson also
w arned that students could
get expelled for talking pub­
licly about the unsolved m ur­
der, according to a report by
KGW.
T h e te le v isio n sta tio n
said T y so n said he w ro te
the m em o w ith deep d is a p ­
p o in tm en t b ecau se a few
p eo p le h av e “ ch o se n to
take action th at co uld com -
p r o m is e th e in v e s t i g a ­
tio n .”
It reported Tyson as say­
ing it’s been three m onths
since Kate Johnson w as m ur­
dered in her dorm room and
the best thing anyone from
the university can do for her
fam ily is to share inform a­
tion o nly w ith investigators.
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