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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2020)
THIRD COVID-19 CASE CONFIRMED IN GRANT COUNTY | PAGE A5 Wednesday, August 5, 2020 Second arrest made in connection to 2018 murder of couple in Grant County Blue Mountain Eagle A second suspect has been arrested for murder and arson after a couple’s house was destroyed by fire in rural Grant County in 2018. Gabrielle I. Connery, 46, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was arrested by the Albu- querque Police Department on Isaac a fugitive war- Connery rant from Grant County, accord- ing to a July 30 press release from Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer. A July 27 Gabrielle grand jury Connery indictment accuses Con- nery of first-degree murder for the deaths of Terry and Sharon Smith, first-degree arson and unauthorized use of a vehicle on July 18, 2018. She is being held in the Bernalilo County Deten- tion Center, awaiting extradition to Oregon. Her son, Isaac Connery, 23, was arrested in New Mexico June 26 on the same charges. He has been extradited to Oregon and is being held in the Grant County Jail with bail set at $500,000. The two are accused of kill- ing Terry and Sharon Smith in July 2018 and setting fire to their home on Nans Rock Road in the Laycock Creek area between Mt. Vernon and John Day, accord- ing to a July 8 press release from Palmer and Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter. The fire totally destroyed the home, but Palmer later dis- covered partial human remains at the site, which were identi- fied through DNA as belonging to Terry Smith, the prior release states. Palmer also discovered other partial remains that could not be identified but have been accepted as belonging to Sharon Smith. Evidence was found, includ- ing witness testimony and sus- pect cellphone locations, that place Isaac and Gabrielle Con- nery at the Smith home at the time of the fire, according to the release. The Connerys had been associated with the Smiths, both in Hawaii and Oregon, prior to the incident. 152nd Year • No. 32 • 16 Pages • $1.50 MyEagleNews.com Judicial candidate backgrounds Raschio arrested for DUII in 2009, has had problems with opposing attorneys By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle Circuit court judge candidate Rob Raschio was arrested for driv- ing drunk in 2009, and background check interviewees said he has had problems getting along with oppos- ing attorneys in the past. In addition to campaigning for this year’s election, Raschio applied to be appointed by the governor as the circuit court judge for Grant and Harney coun- ties following the retirement of Wil- liam D. Cramer Jr. Dec. 31. As part of the appointment pro- cess, Oregon State Rob Raschio Police Detective James Koehler conducted an in-depth investigation in January, which included inter- views with Raschio and references and an additional 14 individuals who were not in Raschio’s reference list, including employees, other attor- See Raschio, Page A16 Carpenter reprimanded by the bar for dishonesty after 2001 incident By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County District Attorney and circuit court judge candidate Jim Car- penter was publicly reprimanded by the Oregon bar for dishonesty in 2004 for his actions in an incident from 2001. In February 2001, Carpenter decided to play a practical joke on a former high school acquaintance, who was then a teacher, and made an account in the teacher’s name and posted a mes- Jim Carpenter sage that implied the teacher was having sexual relations with students, according to the Oregon State Bar Bulletin in 2004. His former classmate was a teacher, coun- selor and coach at the high school they both attended. Carpenter went to Classmates.com, a website that allows subscribers to post information about themselves and con- tact other subscribers, according to an Oregon Supreme Court ruling. See Carpenter, Page A16 FAIR ENOUGH “I LOVE ANIMALS. I LIKE THE RESPONSIBILITY, AND I LIKE WORKING HARD.” Seventh-grader Brooke Taynton Contributed photo Brooke Taynton washes her pig, Pheobe, in her family’s front yard. Taynton will show Pheobe in this year’s Grant County Fair. 4-H’ers prepare for annual tradition amid global pandemic By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle W See Arrest, Page A16 The Eagle/Steven Mitchell Trey Brown simulates leading a pig with a beach ball July 24 at the John Day City Park. Brown will show a pig and a goat the Grant County Fair. hile COVID-19 has forced the Grant County Fair Aug. 12-15 to contort and constrict to meet the state’s guidelines to carry on this year, the sheep, steer, and goats have no idea the 111th year of the Grant County tradition will look very different than year’s past. Meanwhile, 4-H students are preparing their animals and mak- ing adjustments to compete in the spaced-out, modified event in a year that looks like no other. On July 24, 4-H leader Laura Brown had her Canyon Creek pig group simulating leading hogs with beach balls at the John Day City Park. Brown laid out the COVID-19 guidelines at this year’s fair, which include, social distancing measures, a limited number of family passes and limited time in the animals’ pens in between showing animals. In other counties harder hit by the virus, like Umatilla, which had to move its youth live- stock shows online, Grant County will move forward with its fair, albeit without carnival rides, concerts and vendor booths. See Fair, Page A16 Contributed photo Sierra May with the pig she plans to show at the Grant County Fair this year.