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143rd year, No. 230
SPORTS, A8
REGONIAN
THURSDAy, SEPTEMBER 5, 2019
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HERMISTON
Change
of plea in
murder
case
Vincent Shermantine
takes deal; David
Sommerville faces
murder charges
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Vincent
Wesley David Shermantine no
longer faces a
murder charge for
the 2018 killing
of Eric Navarrete
of Hermiston.
Sher ma nt i ne,
30, of Herm-
iston,
pleaded
guilty
Tues- Shermantine
day to first-de-
gree robbery and
unlawful use of a
weapon, accord-
ing to state court
records.
The Umatilla
County District
Attorney’s office Sommerville
in April charged
Shermantine with those two
crimes plus murder and felon
in possession of a weapon. Cir-
cuit Judge Dan Hill accepted the
change of plea at his courtroom
in Hermiston and remanded
Shermantine to the custody of
the sheriff’s office pending his
sentencing.
The court also sealed the plea
petition, and District Attorney
Dan Primus said he did not want
to talk about the plea while the
case continues against Sherman-
tine’s co-defendant, David Edgar
Sommerville.
The state accused Sherman-
tine and Sommerville of robbing
Navarrete at gunpoint on June 4,
2018, and then Sommerville in
the course of the crime shot and
killed Navarrete.
Sommerville, 20, of Board-
man, has pleaded not guilty to
two counts of unlawful use of a
weapon, murder and aggravated
murder, the only crime that car-
ries the threat of the death pen-
alty in Oregon.
Oregon has 29 men and one
woman on death row, accord-
ing to the Oregon Department
of Corrections. The state’s last
execution was May 16, 1997,
with the lethal injection of Harry
Charles Moore. The governor’s
office in 2011 placed a mora-
What’s
in store for
WINTER?
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — It might be time
to check that those winter jackets
and boots are still in the back of
your closet where you left them
in the spring.
Or so says the Old Farmer’s Alma-
nac, at least.
According to the reference book’s
2020 edition released last week, Eastern
Oregon should expect colder tempera-
tures with above average precipitation
and snowfall this winter.
The almanac positions Eastern Ore-
gon in the Intermountain region, which
stretches as far south as Flagstaff, Ari-
zona, and as far north as the U.S.-Can-
ada border. In total, the region encom-
passes nine different states between the
Cascade and Rocky Mountains.
For the 2019-20 winter, the Inter-
mountain region will reportedly be char-
acterized by “low temps, deep powder.”
Across the country, the almanac is pre-
dicting “frequent snow events — from
flurries to no fewer than seven big snow-
storms from coast to coast.”
In February, Pendleton recorded all-
time highs in snowfall after being cov-
ered in 32.5 inches during the shortest
month of the year. That’s nearly double
the previous record of 16.8 inches and,
according to the National Weather Ser-
vice, nearly 10 times the average snow-
fall of 3.4 inches for the month.
While the area saw some more snow-
fall in March this year, the Old Farm-
See Winter, Page A7
HERE’S A PREDICTION
Old Farmer’s Almanac says colder temperatures, above
average precipitation and snowfall this winter in region
Staff photos by E.J. Harris, File
TOP: Travis Hamman uses a bobcat to move snow while working with NW Installations
snow removal service in Pendleton in February 2019. ABOVE: Pedestrians and vehicles nav-
igate snow-covered roads on Dec. 28, 2017, in downtown Pendleton. According to the Old
Farmer’s Almanac’s 2020 edition released last week, Eastern Oregon should expect colder
temperatures with above average precipitation and snowfall this winter.
See Plea, Page A7
Washington murder suspect no longer fighting extradition
By CHRIS COLLINS
EO Media Group
BAKER CITy — Washington
murder suspect Colby James Hed-
man ended his fight to stay in the
Baker County Jail.
Hedman, 23, a
former Heppner res-
ident, waived extra-
dition Wednesday
in Baker County
Circuit Court before
Judge Greg Baxter.
Hedman
That action means
he soon will leave for Washing-
ton where he will face charges of
first-degree murder and theft of a
motor vehicle.
Baker City attorney Damien yer-
vasi represented Hedman, while
assistant district attorney Michael
Spaulding represented the state.
Baxter told Hedman while Wash-
ington authorities have 21 days to
retrieve him from the Baker County
Jail, he expects them to act sooner
because of the first-degree murder
charge.
“I’m pretty sure Washington will
come down and get you within the
week,” Baxter told Hedman, who
appeared via video from the Baker
County Jail.
Upon his return to Washington
to face the more serious charges, the
state will dismiss the Baker County
charges. Spaulding told the judge
that Bob and Robbie Borders, who
live on Taggert Lane north of Baker
City where Hedman is accused of
stealing two of their vehicles, sup-
ported the state’s action.
Hedman has been in the Baker
County Jail since his arrest July 9
on two counts of unauthorized use
of a motor vehicle and one count of
attempting to flee or elude police,
both Class C felonies; two counts
of second-degree criminal mis-
chief, Class C misdemeanors; and
one count each of reckless driving,
second-degree criminal trespass
and failure to perform the duties of
a driver involved in an accident, all
Class A misdemeanors.
A grand jury indicted Hedman
on the charges on July 11. Baxter set
bail at $100,000, requiring the full
amount to be paid before Hedman
could be released, rather than 10 per-
cent as is allowed in some cases.
The Washington fugitive warrant
charges him with first-degree mur-
der in the death of Kyle J. Martz, 35,
of Walla Walla, and theft of Martz’s
Toyota pickup truck from Martz’s
home at Walla Walla on July 8.
Hedman has been held in lieu
of $1 million fixed bail on those
charges.
The Baker County incident began
about 10:30 p.m. the night of July 8
when county, city and state police
responded to a call from Bob Bor-
ders reporting the theft of his 1988
Ford F350 pickup from his property.
While attempting to elude police
during the incident, police said Hed-
man returned to the Borders’ home
and took a second vehicle, a 2000
Jeep Wrangler.
Before they were called to the sto-
len vehicle report, police had been
notified Hedman was a suspect in
the Walla Walla murder and was
driving a Toyota pickup, which they
later found abandoned on the shoul-
der of the eastbound freeway lanes
where he had run out of gas.
According to police, Hedman
admitted he struck Martz with an
ax multiple times the night of July 8
before stealing the victim’s vehicle
and fleeing to Oregon, where he was
arrested after trying to elude police.