REGION
Thursday, January 22, 2015
East Oregonian
Umatilla man pleads
not guilty in triple murder
By KRISTIN M. KRAEMER
Tri-City Herald
Loved ones of an expectant mother
killed last summer grasped hands Tues-
day as the man accused of pulling the
trigger walked into a Kennewick court-
room.
Francisco J. Resendez Miranda, 23,
in Benton County Superior Court for
the fatal shootings of two Pasco wom-
en and a man. He pleaded not guilty to
murder.
The bodies of Abigail Torres-Rente-
ria, 23, Victoria Torres, 19, and David
Perez-Saucedo, 22, were found Aug.
9 on farmland off Nine Canyon Road,
Road south of Kennewick. The women
were not related.
The charges include the aggravat-
ing circumstance that Torres-Renteria
was almost nine months pregnant when
she was killed. Under Washington law,
unborn baby.
Relatives and friends of all three
victims attended the court hearing. Tor-
res-Renteria’s loved ones wore black
sweatshirts memorializing the woman
with her picture.
Aggravated murder in Washington
carries a sentence of life in prison with-
out the possibility of release, or death.
Resendez Miranda was appointed
two attorneys — Shane Silverthorn of
Ellensburg and Michael Iaria of Seattle
— because of the possibility the state
may seek the death penalty.
The trial is set for March 9, though it
may be rescheduled because of the com-
plexity of the case. Resendez Miranda
would have to agree to waive his right
to a speedy trial.
There has been some confusion with
Resendez Miranda’s last name, as jail
records and court documents in Oregon
and Washington show different spell-
ings and variations. His siblings report-
edly spell their name as Resendiz.
On Tuesday, Silverthorn told Judge
Bruce Spanner that his client’s name
was correct as it was written on the Ben-
ton County charging information.
Resendez Miranda was arrested
Aug. 10. He was held in the Umatilla
County jail until his Oregon charges
were resolved and the extradition paper-
both states. He was taken to the Benton
County jail Friday morning.
Resendez Miranda worked with Pe-
rez-Saucedo at a Wyckoff Farms prop-
erty along the Columbia River in Pater-
son.
Court documents show the slayings
might have been in retaliation for a
break-in at Resendez Miranda’s apart-
ment the night before.
Perez-Saucedo, Torres, Torres-Ren-
teria and a fourth person had gone to
Umatilla, possibly to a party, late on
Aug. 8. A farmworker discovered the
three bodies at 5:30 a.m. the next morn-
from Resendez Miranda’s apartment.
No one else has been charged in con-
nection with the triple homicide.
late August said Resendez Miranda’s
two brothers and father were wanted for
questioning in the investigation.
Fidel Miranda-Huitron, 51, Eduardo
Miranda-Resendiz, 24, and Fernando de
Jesus Miranda-Resendiz, 19, all lived
in the Umatilla area and are believed to
have possibly left the country after the
shootings.
Resendez Miranda’s extradition war-
rant was for $1 million bail. But Pros-
ecutor Andy Miller said now that Re-
sendez Miranda is in custody and facing
aggravated murder, he is not entitled to
any bail while awaiting trial.
Resendez Miranda also has a U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
hold.
UMATILLA
City extends strip club moratorium
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Residents of Umatilla
opposed to strip clubs won’t
have to worry about another
one coming to town for at
least six months.
The city council passed
a six-month extension on
its moratorium of new adult
businesses Tuesday night.
Boyd Sharp, chair of the
planning commission, told
the council the commission
needs two or three more
the city’s rules on what types
of uses are allowed in its
commercial zones. He said
the commission was asking
for six months to make sure
the city council had time to
hold public hearings after
the commission submits its
recommendations for ap-
proval.
“This gives you more
time,” he said.
In order to avoid legal
trouble for targeting adult
businesses protected by
free speech laws, the com-
mission is addressing con-
cern over those businesses
by creating comprehensive
rules for all establishments
in the commercial zone.
Hundreds of categories of
uses are being sorted into
those that are allowed out-
right, those that are allowed
with some restrictions and
those that are allowed only if
the city grants a conditional
use permit.
The public hearing on the
extension of the moratorium
was sparsely attended, with
only one comment from the
public.
John Nichols, a former
planning commission mem-
ber who resigned after the
commission approved a per-
mit for what was at the time
the city’s third strip club,
urged the city council to ex-
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Night Moves gentlemen’s club was the third strip club to open in Umatilla.
“We can’t change things, we can’t change
the culture and we can’t move forward
unless we have more participation.”
— David Trott, Umatilla mayor
tend the moratorium.
“Please give them as
much time and as much lat-
itude as they need to do the
job correctly,” he said.
City councilor David Lo-
ugee, who was on the plan-
ning commission before tak-
knew how hard the commis-
sion was working and want-
ed to give them kudos.
“I think these are at least
baby steps toward an im-
proved Umatilla,” he said
before the council unani-
mously voted to extend the
moratorium.
Also during the council
meeting, City Manager Bob
Ward told the council that
he did not yet have an agree-
ment to settle the ongoing
zoning dispute between the
city and the Port of Umatilla.
He said the “agreement in
principle has not changed”
but it was taking longer than
expected to reach a consen-
sus on the wording of cer-
tain items. The details of the
agreement have not been
made public.
“I think a settlement is
still within reach, we just
need to work a little bit hard-
er to get there,” Ward said.
The council also infor-
mally recognized Umatilla
School District superinten-
dent Heidi Sipe. While the
council was conducting its
meeting, Sipe was in the
U.S. Capitol building in
Washington, D.C., attending
the president’s State of the
Union address as a guest of
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Or-
egon).
Councilor Mary Dedrick
said Sipe deserved some
recognition for all of the
time and effort she and her
husband put into the school
district’s robotics program,
which is considered one of
the best in the state.
“I can’t think of a better
person to represent Umatil-
la,” Dedrick said.
Before adjourning the
meeting, new mayor David
Trott issued a challenge to
the city councilors and staff
present. He said he was dis-
appointed in the attendance
at the meeting (only a cou-
ple of attendees were not
city staff or news media) and
urged everyone to invite one
Umatilla resident to attend
the next city council meet-
ing.
“We can’t change things,
we can’t change the culture
and we can’t move forward
unless we have more partici-
pation,” he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Two fights lead to three arrests during the weekend
Craig threw the female to the
ground and struck her with a
A Hermiston man landed
in jail after he threw another
of the head. She suffered
swelling and told police she
was light headed, but she de-
clined to go to the hospital.
Two males joined the
fracas to get Craig off the
female. That’s when Craig
pushed one male down 14
steps, knocking him out. The
two males also told police
they hit Craig, and that could
be why he suffered a black
Hermiston police Chief Ja-
son Edmiston said that was
one of three people his of-
during the weekend in two
Noble Allen Clinton
Craig, 19, of Hermiston, fac-
es charges of fourth-degree
assault, a misdemeanor, and
third-degree assault, a felony,
little after 10 p.m. responded
to the Best Western Hotel,
2255 S. Highway 395, Herm-
with injuries. Edmiston said
Craig fought with a female,
and both claim the other
the police report, determined
on Craig because he was the
primary aggressor.
Craig is no longer in the
Umatilla County Jail, Pend-
leton.
Hermiston police arrested
two more people a few hours
Edmiston said police Sun-
day at about 1:50 a.m. found
Angelo Vince Corpus Jr., 19,
and Angelina Regina Cor-
pus, 21, both of Hermiston,
PARK: King hopes
project will be done
by end of the year
Continued from 1A
As a part of their deal
-
mittee will have to pay an
archaeologist $600 per day
to be on site for the duration
of the excavation. If hu-
man remains or an histor-
ical object is found during
the excavation, work crews
ground without completing
the project. That scenario
would also waste the city’s
money, as Parks and Rec-
reation Department staff
will be used for labor and
equipment.
The committee’s Plan
B is a separate site on the
park’s north side, which is
outside the boundaries of
the cemetery. King said the
back-up site is less ideal
because the area is more
congested and would re-
quire a smaller shelter.
She said the proposed
west side shelter would
resemble picnic shelters at
Community Park and Ki-
wanis Park.
In the end, the risks
weren’t enough to deter the
council from unanimously
approving the shelter on
the west side of the park.
King said she hopes the
project will see completion
by the end of the year.
Other topics discussed
during the meeting includ-
ed:
• The city approved
spending $58,000 to em-
ploy a new utility for meter
reading purposes.
According to a report
from Public Works Direc-
tor Bob Patterson, the city
previously outsourced me-
ter reading services to Me-
tereaders LLC of Portland.
After the Metereaders
employee serving Pend-
leton left the company, a
representative told the city
that Metereaders would no
longer service Pendleton
because the city was con-
sidering switching to an
automated meter reading
system.
Staff also requested
$20,000 for new meter
reading equipment that
will be required if the city
transitions to an automated
service.
Besides
equipment
costs, the new employ-
ee will have a net cost of
$1,700 due to the city no
longer contracting with
Metereaders.
The council approved
the expenditures 6-1 with
Councilman Tom Young
voting against it and Coun-
cilwoman Becky Marks
absent.
Young said he could
hire several employees for
the cost of hiring the new
meter reader.
• The council unani-
mously approved annexing
the 13 acres that comprise
the Pendleton Sanitary
Service facility.
The annexation was
a part of a deal made in
October to change the ser-
vice’s franchise fee rate.
The estimated $18,000 in
property taxes the city will
receive from the service
will help offset $70,000
Pendleton loses from re-
structuring the fee.
• Pendleton, Adams,
Pilot Rock and Umatilla
County could join forces
to bring in a grant to help
homeowners restore their
houses.
The council unanimous-
ly approved an intergov-
ernmental agreement with
those entities to jointly ap-
ply for a $400,000 grant.
In Round-Up City, that
grant money would go
toward the city’s Restore
Pendleton program, which
helps low income home-
owners repair their dwell-
ings.
• Municipal Court Judge
Jeff Wallace’s contract was
unanimously renewed by
the city council.
According to his con-
tract, Wallace makes
$27,900 per year.
-
cant changes to the Pend-
leton Convention Center
Commission, the council
appointed seven new mem-
bers to the restructured ad-
visory committee.
The council appoint-
ed Susan Bower from the
Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce Board of Di-
rectors, Tim Hawkins from
the Round-Up Association
Board of Directors, J.J.
Spriet from Happy Canyon
Co., Pat Beard from Travel
Pendleton and Councilman
Neil Brown.
The commission’s two
at-large positions went
to individuals from the
business community —
Virgil’s at Cimmiyotti’s
owner Jennifer Keeton and
Knights Inn owner Surya
Das.
Due to poor attendance,
the council dramatically
restructured the commis-
sion in August, cutting the
number of positions from
11 to seven. Mayor Phillip
Houk has previously said
he will direct the commis-
sion to seek out larger con-
ventions to accommodate
the $897,000 east side ex-
pansion to the center.
Two new members
were also appointed to the
City Bond Advisory Com-
mittee.
McCormack Construc-
tion Co. Vice President Ty-
son Furstenburg and F &
H Computers owner Alan
Feves were both appoint-
ed. With the city aiming to
put a bond issue on the No-
vember ballot, Houk said
more appointees would
come in the future.
The council appoint-
ed Jackie Engur to take
Furstenburg’s spot on the
Planning Commission. Her
application states she spent
the past 10 years working
for the planning and licens-
ing department of the Lon-
don borough of Camden in
the United Kingdom.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
HERMISTON
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Page 3A
were part of a larger group
that assaulted three people at
the Midway Tavern, 1750 N.
First St., Hermiston.
After the assault occurred,
the victims remained on
scene, and police caught An-
gelo and Angelina Corpus on
Northeast Second Street and
East Oregon Avenue. A wit-
-
miston reported, and police
booked them into the Umatil-
la County Jail, on one count
each of third-degree assault.
Edmiston said the felony oc-
curs when one assailant aids
another in the attack. Edmis-
Angelo Corpus for carrying
a concealed weapon — “a
spring-assisted knife in his
right front pocket.”
Angelina Corpus and Angelo
Corpus are related, and detec-
tives Tuesday picked up vid-
eo footage from the tavern.
The Hermiston police chief
also credited the Midway for
doing a good job of policing
problems, particularly inside
the establishment, but this in-
cident took place outside.
All You Can Eat
Seafood Feast!
February 7 • 6:00 pm • $30.00
Proceeds to benefit Pendleton Elks’ Scholarship Program
Pendleton Elks Lodge #288
14 SE 3rd, Pendleton
541-969-2765 • 541-276-3882
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at
333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211
S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
Join us
Superbowl Sunday!
February 1 st in our Lounge
Food & Beverage Specials
Lounge opens at 1:30 pm
3 0 4 S E N y e Av e . , P e n d l e t o n , O R
redlion.com • 541-276-6111
Don't forget we're open
for lunch daily
11:00 am - 1:00 pm