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.