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WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
NEWS
Judge: Houfmuse to remain in custody
Judge not convinced
of self-defense or
presumption of guilt
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
The case of a Hermiston man
charged with murder will go to
trial in October after hearings last
week revealed new information in
the case — but not enough for the
judge to agree to his release.
Tyree Houfmuse, 35, will
remain in the Umatilla County Jail
on charges of murder, manslaugh-
ter and felon in possession of a fire-
arm. He has been in jail since June
2017 for the murder of James Cra-
gun last Memorial Day weekend.
Houfmuse’s trial is set to begin
October 29.
Over multiple days, Judge Eva
Temple heard arguments for Houf-
muse’s release after his attorney,
Kara Davis, argued he had acted in
self-defense.
District Attorney Dan Primus
tried to convince the judge that
there is enough presumption that
Houfmuse is guilty of murder that
Temple should order him to stay in
jail with no bail.
Temple did not grant either
side’s request, and reduced Houf-
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Tyree Houfmuse is led into the
courtroom of Umatilla County
Circuit Court Judge Eva Temple
for a pre-trial hearing on March
27, 2018, at the Stafford Hansell
Government Center in Hermiston.
muse’s bail from $1 million to
$250,000. She stated that there was
not enough evidence to rule out
self-defense, and that she did not
see a strong presumption of guilt,
either.
“There is a lot of contradictory
evidence in this case,” Temple said
after hearing both arguments. She
said that according to Cragun’s
autopsy, he had several injuries
that have not been discussed else-
where in the case, such as lacera-
tions above his eye and bruised
knees.
She also noted that the primary
contributor of DNA on the gun was
Cragun’s. Houfmuse’s DNA has
not been found on the weapon. Pri-
mus said the state cannot explain
the lack of Houfmuse’s DNA on
the gun.
Over the two days of hear-
ings, Temple heard more than
eight hours of video interviews
with Houfmuse and several wit-
nesses, including a woman both
Houfmuse and Cragun had dated,
and two women who were present
when Cragun was shot.
Houfmuse and the witnesses
described the night Cragun died.
They said Cragun drove up to
the apartment Houfmuse and the
woman were going into. Cragun
got out of the car, jumped over a
hedge and started moving toward
Houfmuse.
Cragun had been convicted of
assaulting the woman two years
prior, and she had a restraining
order against him. The East Ore-
gonian does not name victims of
domestic violence. Detectives also
found text messages on the wom-
an’s phone, from Cragun, threaten-
ing Houfmuse’s life and hers.
“If that doesn’t frighten you and
put you in fear of felonious assault,
what does?” Davis asked.
Houfmuse said Cragun came
running toward him and took a
gun out of a bag. Houfmuse said
he grabbed Cragun’s hands and
twisted the gun, and the gun went
off.
Primus said the autopsy shows
the entry point of the bullet to be
on Cragun’s upper left back area
— which he said makes it impossi-
ble for the gun to have been twisted
as Houfmuse claims.
But Davis argued that Houf-
muse had ample reason to fear for
his life.
“The state’s argument is that
my client is paranoid at the threats
Cragun was making,” she said.
“That is textbook self-defense.”
Davis also said that the state had
waited several months to request
lab testing for physical evidence
in the case, which she said led to
a delay of six months. The trial
was originally scheduled to start in
April.
“He’s been in jail almost a year
now,” she said. “We have a trial
date in six months because the
state didn’t do their job.”
Temple also heard an audio
interview with Cameron Teem, a
man who had shared a jail cell with
Houfmuse at the Umatilla County
Jail, and who gave an officer a
detailed account of what Houf-
muse told him had happened the
night Cragun died.
In the interview, Teem offers
several specific details that Houf-
muse told him about the incident.
He said that Houfmuse admitted to
him that he did have the gun with
him the night Cragun died, and
was carrying it in his backpack.
He states that when Cragun came
rushing toward him, he swung the
backpack around to his front and
pulled the gun out of it.
Teem also stated that Houf-
muse said he egged Cragun on in
his threatening statements, and
intended to set him up to come
there that night.
Temple said at this point, she
does not know that Houfmuse
brought the gun with him, and
that she was baffled by the lack
of his DNA on the weapon. She
stated that at this point, there was
not enough evidence to indicate
that the shooting was set up by
Houfmuse.
She said she would continue to
hold Houfmuse in jail before he
goes to trial.
“Obviously there is a lot more
evidence in this case than what’s
been presented,” Temple said.
“It appears this is not the case I
thought it was.”
Crash into building leads to arrest of burglary suspect
As Rankin passed by,
the car turned south onto
Northeast 10th, accelerated
The crash of a vehicle and whirled west onto East
fleeing law enforcement Ridgeway Avenue. Rankin
Sunday in Hermiston led to activated his car’s overhead
one arrest for burglary and lights and turned around
other charges, but two sus- to follow. The Toyota sped
pects remain at large.
through residential areas and
The Umatilla County eventually drove onto Diag-
Sheriff’s Office in a written onal Road and then East
Main Street. The
statement reported
sheriff’s office stated
deputy
Nathan
Rankin turned off
Rankin at 11:22 a.m.
his siren and ended
Sunday was driv-
ing his patrol vehi-
the pursuit out of
cle north on North-
concerns for public
east 10th Street near
safety.
Sandstone Middle Amanda
The deputy saw
School, Hermiston, Clawson
the vehicle speed
when he saw a newer
west on East Main
model, gray Toyota Corolla Street and crash into a
leaving the driveway of the building at 495 E. Main St.
residence at 395 N.E. 10th Rankin neared the crash and
St. Three people were in saw two males and a female
the car, and Rankin recog- run from the scene, and he
nized the vehicle belonged captured Clawson.
to Amanda Lynn Clawson,
“Clawson admitted she
35, of Hermiston.
was driving the vehicle,”
Circuit Court records according to the sheriff’s
show Rankin on March 28 office, and she said she tried
gave Clawson a ticket for to elude Rankin because one
driving uninsured.
of her passengers told her he
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY KARI GOODHEART
A car sticks out of a stairwell at 495 E. Main Street, Hermiston, after a chase on Sunday.
had a warrant. She would not
identify her two passengers.
Clawson told Rankin she
had methamphetamine in
her purse and firearms inside
her vehicle. Rankin searched
the car and found approxi-
mately 1/8th ounce of possi-
ble meth and several ounces
of marijuana. He also saw
two handguns, a large metal
safe, jewelry and paperwork
with the name “Maret,”
which is the name of the
family that lives at 395 N.E.
10th St.
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Pendleton boy, 12, killed
in I-82 crash near Umatilla
HERMISTON HERALD
Nathan Salazar of Pend-
leton died May 8 in a crash
near Umatilla. He was 12.
Oregon State Police
reported the stormy weather
at the time could be a con-
tributing factor.
State police, Umatilla
County Fire District 1 and
other agencies at about 7:15
p.m. responded to a sin-
gle-vehicle crash on Inter-
state 82 outside Umatilla.
The preliminary investi-
gation indicated Raymond
Ramone Dick Shippen-
tower, 32, of Pendleton, was
driving a silver Mazda MPV
westbound on the highway.
The minivan veered off the
road and rolled over in the
median.
Nathan was a passenger
in the vehicle. He died from
injuries at the scene.
The other passengers
were Christina Marie Leyva,
38, of Pendleton, and a
3-year-old girl. They and
the driver suffered minor or
non-life threatening injuries,
according to state police.
Police and road crews
restricted I-82 to one lane
for three-and-a-half hours
during the investigation.
Nathan was a student
at Washington Elementary
School in Pendleton, where
staff sent a letter to parents
identifying Nathan and tell-
ing parents how their chil-
dren could react to grief.
Oregon State Police
trooper
Dain
Gardner
assisted Rankin. He went
to the Maret residence, dis-
covered the back door was
damaged and contacted the
family, who confirmed their
residence was burglarized.
“They went to the crash
scene and identified their
stolen property in Clawson’s
vehicle,” the sheriff’s office
reported.
Rankin also found what
appeared to be a hand gre-
nade in the car. The sher-
iff’s office called the Ore-
gon State Police Explosives
Unit, whose members deter-
mined it “to be a non-explo-
sive, fake device.” The sher-
iff’s office did not yet know
if the item came from the
Maret home or was in the
car already.
The sheriff’s office
booked Clawson in the
county jail, Pendleton, on
the following: misdemeanor
and felony attempt to flee,
hit and run on property,
first-degree trespass, posses-
sion of burglary tools, two
counts of first-degree theft,
possession and delivery of
meth and possession of a
hoax destructive device.
The sheriff’s office
reported the two other sus-
pects remain at large, and the
investigation is continuing.
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Stanfield plant catches fire again
GET THE NETWORK
inspection in the part of the to 20 incidents between 8
plant where the fires keep a.m. May 8 and 8 a.m. May
Umatilla County Fire occuring because it is still 9, Roberts said, which was
District 1 responded to the considered to be a “new above the average of 12 or
3D Idapro Solutions dehy- building under construc- so.
dration plant in Stanfield for tion” under the law.
the fifth time in about a year
The district stated that
on May 8.
it is cooperating with an
At 10:30 p.m., Umatilla investigation by the Ore-
County Fire District 1 sent a gon OSHA (Occupational
full response to the plant at Safety and Health Adminis-
405 Hoosier Lane, Stanfield, tration) that started after the
5 Theater Cineplex
according to Battalion Chief last fire.
At about 11 p.m. that
JW Roberts.
Check
The plant has had at least same night, a small barn
wildhorseresort.com
five fires in recent memory, caught fire at 1299 W. High-
for showtimes
Roberts said, and each one land Ave., Hermiston.
Roberts said all available $5 Matinee Classics
has required a “full, real-deal
response” as smoke from the personnel and a few from
Every Wednesday
bag house fills the building. other agencies responded.
Credit & Debit Cards
Roberts said the barn
Damage to the building was
accepted
housed chickens and stored
limited, he said.
Cineplex gift cards
The district later posted hay, and no one was injured
available
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