Page A2
^înrt lattò (©bserUer
lanuary OI, 2003
P olice
Father Wanted in Family’s Murder
Man Pulls Gun on Police
Officer escapes injury in struggle
Police say north Portland man was in The Dalles after deaths
(AP) — T ips poured in
from across the country af
ter an O regon m an charged
with killing his pregnant wife
and children was featured
on “ A m e r i c a ’s M o st
W anted” police said S un
day.
The FBI has now co n
firmed that 37-year old E d
ward M orris was in The
Dalles on Dec. 20.
Investigators w ere led to
The D alles Sunday after a
motel clerk told them a man
in a gray van w ith plates
m atching those o f M orris,
rented a room on the night of
Dec. 20, w hich is the date
authorities believe M orris
killed his family.
The m an refused to show
The Dalles report con
flicts with a report of the
van in Bellingham, Wash.,
on the sam e day.
“ W e’re still not dis
counting anything but it
ju st w idens out search
area,” said Tillam ook
C o u n ty S h e riff Todd
Anderson.
H unters found Renee
Morris and her three chil
dren in a rem ote, snowy
patch o f the T illam ook
Edward Morris
State Forest on Dec.
20th. A few days later,
his drivers license, gave a Edw ard M orris was charged
bogus name and address and with seven counts o f aggra
left the afternoon o f the next vated m urder in the deaths.
day, the clerk said.
Since then, a flurry of tips
The clerk w rote dow n the has come from the Bellingham,
license number.
Wash, area, raising suspicion
that M orris might have fled
across the C anadian bor
der.
B ellingham police said
that they have received six
reports of sightings o f M or
ris since Dec. 23, including
o n e S a tu rd a y fro m a
M c D o n a ld s ’ r e s ta u ra n t
clerk who thinks she sold
him breakfast the m orning
after Christmas.
M o rris is c o n s id e re d
arm ed and dangerous; in
vestigators assum e M orris
is alive because the evidence
d o e sn ’t prove otherw ise,
Anderson said.
M ore than 500 m ourners
attended a memorial service
for the four victims Saturday
at a north Portland church.
State Police Brace for Cuts
(A P) — S tate budget cuts
threaten to h am strin g the fo
rensics operations run by O r
egon S tate P o lice, by term i
nating alm o st tw o -th ird s of
the p ro g ram ’s scien tists and
closing all but one o f seven
regional crim e labs, ac c o rd
ing to law en fo rcem en t au
thorities.
U nder the L e g is la tu re ’s
b u d g e t-b a la n c in g
p la n
passed in S eptem ber, crim e
lab spen d in g is due to be
slashed by alm ost $1.6 m il
lion if vo ters d efeat a three-
year incom e tax increase in
a Jan. 28 electio n .
C rim e lab w o rk ers w ill
drop from 135 to 50 on Feb.
1, barring a successful tax
vote or revisions by the 2003
L eg islatu re, said C apt. Tom
Dixson.
“T his is n ’t a m atter o f one
less tro o p er on the ro ad ,”
said M arion C ounty S h eriff
Raul R am irez said. “This is
affe c tin g the w hole state.
C rim in als are going to be
freed w ithout being held a c
c o u n ta b le fo r th e c rim e s
th e y 'v e com m itted, because
we w o n ’t be able to e ffe c
tively use all the potential
e v id e n c e .”
If all the cuts took effect,
only one crim e lab would re
main open, som ewhere in the
W illam ette Valley.
Jobs done at the labs in
clude ballistics tests, DNA
analysis, hair and fiber evalu
ation, and fingerprint and hand
writing com parison. Lab ex
perts go to most m ajor crime
scenes, working alongside lo
cal police.
African Americans arc dying „
at higher rates than whites from
smoking related diseases.
Everv year about
’ /
9
45,000
African
Americans
d i e from
smoking related
diseases.
Christopher Angel
(AP) — A suspected forger has
been charged with impersonating a
police officer and attempting to
murder a police officer.
Christopher R. Angel, 22,of Port
land was arrested Thursday after
he allegedly pointed a handgun at
Officer Melissa Gray, who was try
ing to arrest him at the Cash C on
nection in southeast Portland. It’s
the sam e ch eck -cash in g store
where an officer suffered a minor
injury in a shooting this fall.
Thursday's incident happened
when Angel was leaving the busi
ness.
According to the police, Angel
flashed a stolen badge from the
Clackamas County S heriff s Office
at Gray, trying to convince her that
he was a deputy sheriff.
Gray, 31, who has been with the
police bureau for five years, didn't
believe Angel and tried to stop him.
During the ensuing fight, Angel
pushed back, pulled out a hand
gun, and pointed it directly at Gray,
who was less than 4 feet away,
police said.
Gray, believing she was about to
be shot, lunged at Angel. Other
officers arrived shortly before their
colleag u e pried the gun from
A ngel’s hand, police said.
At some point during the fight,
Angel successfully cocked the
handgun, which discharged as of
ficers were attempting to make it
safe, police said.
Sgt. Brian Schmautz, the Port
land police spokesman, said a badge
w as stolen from a Clackamas County
deputy’s car this summer. It is un
known if it was the same badge that
Angel reportedly showed.
Besides forgery, attempted mur
der and impersonating an officer,
Angel was charged with resisting
arrest and unlawful possession of
a weapon.
He was arraigned Friday and is
lodged in the Justice Center Jail.
CRIME STOPPERS
(503) 823-HELP 111 S.W. 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204
Domestic Violence
Case Brings Manhunt
The Domestic Violence Reduc
tion Unit of the Portland Police
Bureau’s Family Services Division,
in cooperation with Crime Stop
pers, is asking for your help in
locating and apprehending Timo
thy Lamont Triplet. He is changed
with assault stemming from do
mestic violence.
Police said Triplet goes by the
alias of Daniel Keith Schreiber and
a nickname “Bull.” He is described
as a 39-year old white male with a
date of birth o f April 28,1963.He is
six feet tall and weighs approxi
mately 240pounds with blonde hair
and blue eyes. Triplet has num er
ous tattoos, including “ B u ll”,
"M argo/Dog” and a star on his left
arm, and “Margo” on his right arm. Timothy “Bull" Triplet
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash
re ward of up to $ 1,000 for informa- or any unsolved felony crime, and
tion, reported to Crime Stoppers, you need not give your name. Call
which leads to an arrest in this case. Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to $1,000fo r information, reported to Crime Stoppers,
that leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolvedfelony crime, any you need not give your name. Call
Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP.
Preparing for Disasters
Fire agencies prepare residents with life-saving training
A group of six Clark County fire
agencies are working to deliver
potentially life-saving training to
Vancouver area residents for the
New Year.
The C itizen Em ergency Re
sponse Team training is open to
anyone in Clark County. Individu
als and couples are encouraged to
sign up, along with neighborhood
teams of two or three or more. Dead
line for registering is Monday, Jan.
6. Cost of the training is $20, which
includes the required uniform vest
and safety helmet, plus a textbook
and other materials.
“W e’re looking for people who
w ant to learn w hat to do in a
disaster. T hese are the folks who
w ill have the skills to help their
ow n fam ilies and their neighbors
during a disaster such as a m ajor
e a r th q u a k e ,” s a id M a ry Jo
H offm an, training assistant for
the V ancouver Fire D epartm ent.
In a m ajor disaster, fire and police
em ergency service resources will
be overw helm ed.
The curriculum includes disas
ter preparedness, light search and
rescue operations, disaster fire sup
pression, disaster psychology, di
saster medical operations and a
disaster exercise.
The classes in January and Feb
ruary are set to accommodate dif
ferent work, school and family
schedules:
For registration and other ques
tions, contact Leah Edwards with
the Clark County Fire District at
360-576-1195orleahe@ccfd6.org
Killer’s lll-Y e a r Sentence Upheld
Court rejects argument Kip Kinkel’s sentence was excessive
W
don’t have to...
Prevention works, it's never too
late to quit. Ask your doctor about smoking
related diseases today.
It’s our right.
African American Health Coalition, Inc.
2800 N. Vancouver Avenue-Suite 100
Portland, Oregon 97227
Phone: 503-413-1850
w w w .a a h c -p o rtla n d .o rg
Made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
4
(AP) — The Oregon Su
preme Court has let stand the
111-year sentence given to teen
ager Kip Kinkel for slaying his
parents and later killing two stu
dents and wounding 25 others in
a 1998 shooting rampage at
Springfield’s Thurston High
School.
The Supreme Court without
comment refused to review a
state Court of Appeals ruling
upholding the sentence.
The Court of Appeals in O c
tober re je c te d a p u b lic
defender’s argument that the
sentence was excessive and that
Kinkel, now 20, has an excellent
chance of being reformed and
should be allowed to return to
society when he is no longer a
threat.
Kinkel accepted a plea deal
for a 25-year sentence in the
May 20, 1998, killings o f his
parents, W illiam Kinkel, 59,
and Faith Kinkel, 57, and for
k illin g T h u rsto n stu d e n ts
M ikael Nickolauson, 17, and
Ben W alker, 16, the next day.
Lane County Circuit Judge
Jack Mattison tacked on 40
months for each of 26 attempted
murdercounts, adding nearly 87
years to the sentence.
J e sse B arto n , the c h ie f
deputy state public defender,
had contended that the trial
judge misread state sentenc
ing guidelines and wrongly
gave more consideration to the
“protection o f society” provi
sions than to “reform ation” of
convicted crim inals.
But the appeals court said
“protection of society from this
defendant is of vital concern”
because of the circumstances
of the crimes and the apparently
incurable nature of his mental
illness.
The National Alliance for the
Mentally 111 had joined in the
appeal, arguing that Kinkel’s
schizophrenia can be treated and
that he should be eligible for
release at some point.
Kinkel is in an intensive treat
ment program at the MacLaren
Youth Correctional Facility in
Woodhum. Under state law he
will be transferred to an adult
prison when he turns 25.
a