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lanuary 08. 2003
P olice
Accused Killer Spotted on 1-84
Sharp-eyed north Portland
siblings lead police to suspect
(AP) — As north Portland resident Linda Martin
and her brother Thom cruised through desolate East­
ern Oregon, something about the gray van in front of
them on Interstate-84 clicked.
"We see this van, we saw it at the same time, and we
said, 'O h, is that it? Is that the number?’ “ Linda said.
It was.
photo ht
Do
ii i
Pi i ( h i /T u t P o r tlan d O bserver
Police investigate a fatal traffic accident Thursday afternoon on North Vancouver in the vicinity
o f the approach to the Fremont Bridge.
Woman Dies in Vancouver Avenue Wreck
A w o m a n w as k ille d died at the scene.
T hursday afternoon w hen she
P olice said h er view o f the
pulled her car into the path o f oncom ing SUV may have been
an oncom ing sport utility ve­ obscured by a van turning w est­
h ic le on N orth V a n c o u v e r bound onto Cook.
A venue and C ook S treet, p o ­
Police said n either speed nor
lice said.
alcohol was a factor.
T he d riv er, id e n tified as
“She ju st d id n ’t see the SU V ,"
23-year-old A shana C henoa, said Brian Schm autz, Portland
Police public inform ation o f­
fice r.
S chm autz said the w eather
was not a factor in the acci­
dent, but he rem inded m otor­
ists to “drive d efensively, es­
pecially in the w inter m onths,
w hen roads tend to be more
slip p ery ."
At the wheel was Edward Morris, who had eluded
police for two weeks and is charged with killing is
pregnant wife and three children along a snowy side
A family portrait shows north Portland resident
road in the Tillamook State Forest 350 miles to the west.
Edward Morris with his wife and children.
The Martin siblings checked out the license plate,
Morris is accused o f murdering each o f the
WHS-171.
family members in the Tillamook State Forest
“We both had seen the news reports, where they
on Dec. 20.
flash the license plate. And it kind of registered with
both o f us that he might be the one,” Linda Martin, 58, could not complete a call in the isolated area.
They got off the freeway at a state police exit, but *
o f Portland, said.
The Martins began following the van at about the office was closed. Thom Martin called from an i
midday Saturday.
emergency phone there.
“We sort of played tag with the van,” she said.
They got back on 1-84 and eventually followed
They were trying to look at him without making it Morris to the parking lot o f a Rite Aid drug store in
obvious they wanted to get a good look at his face, she
BakerCity and called 9 1 1.
said.
Morris was inside the store. When he came out,
When the Dodge van pulled in at a gas station in the police were waiting.
Durkee, Thom Martin, 50, of Rochester, Wash., got a
Ironically, Linda M artin's grandson played on a
look at the man behind the wheel. His head was shaven, soccer team with Bryant Morris.
but it still looked like pictures of Morris that Martin had
Authorities had offered a $50,000reward for infor-
seen on television.
mation leading to M orris’ arrest. The Martins said
It it weren’t for Linda and Thom Martin, Edward
they have not been told if they are eligible. Tillamook
Morris might still be a fugitive.
County Sheriff Todd Anderson said he thought they
Linda Martin tried to call police on her cell phone but would be.
Police Kill Son of Civil Rights Figure
I nformation S essions
Officers say man fired assault rife and refused to stop
(AP) — A Little Rock, Ark. police
officer fatally shot the son of one of the
Little Rock Nine, the group of African
Americans who integrated the city’s
schools in 1957, police said.
Police said they were called after
neighbors saw the man, Erin Eckford, 26,
firing an assault rifle into the air on the
evening of Jan. 1.
Eckford was asked to put the weapon
down, and when he did not, officers fired
a beanbag round at him, to no avail, police
Sgt. Terry Hastings said.
Eckford then began firing the assault
rifle again, and police shot back, firing
seven to 10 rounds and hitting him six
times, Hastings said.
Eckford died at a hospital.
The three officers involved were
placed on administrative leave with pay,
the normal procedure, pending a police
investigation of the shooting.
Eckford, a student at the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock, was the son of
Elizabeth Eckford. She was among the
students who broke the color barrier at
Little Rock Central HighSchool in 1957.
Elizabeth Eckford declined to com­
ment, a family friend said. Her son had a
short criminal history with a marijuana
charge in 1997 and a firearm possession
charge in 2000.
A neighbor, LaWanda McKinnie, said
she saw Erin Eckford carrying a rifle
while her son and friends were playing
basketball. She said she asked a passing
man with a cellular telephone to call
police.
“I feel like it's all my fault,” she said.
“He eventually would have gone back
into his house. But I didn’t want him to
shoot that gun with all the kids outside.”
for
Trillium Charter School
A New Portland Public K -12 Charter School
16 at 7:00 p . m .
27 at 7:00 p . m .
T hursday J anuary
M
■
Sniper Suspect
Leaves Courtroom
Sniper suspect John Lee Malvo is escorted
from court after a hearing in Fairfax, Va.
Lawyers for Malvo scored a legal victory
Thursday when the judge ordered prosecu­
tors to turn over statements he made have
made to police about two Virginia
shootings. Malvo and a second suspect
are charged in the string o f sniper killings
that terrorized Ihe Washington, D.C. area.
onday
J anuary
at 116 N.
P age S treet
.. . q UJ < -
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