June 24, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 3A
Request denied: Death penalty case goes to trial
Judge says no to excluding grisly evidence in
Seaside toddler murder
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
An effort to dismiss one of
the worst child-abuse cases in
Clatsop County was denied by
a Circuit Court judge.
Judge Paula Brownhill
ruled against the defense law-
yers for Randy Roden, the
live-in boyfriend accused of
murdering his girlfriend’s
2-year-old daughter and abus-
ing her two sons in their Sea-
side apartment.
During a two-day hear-
ing in April, defense lawyers
Thomas Huseby and Robert
Axford argued for the case
to be dismissed, or at least to
have evidence excluded, such
as the adult-sized bite marks
found on the three children,
the blood spatter in the apart-
ment and the use of the term
“torture.”
Judge Brownhill denied
the defense lawyers’ requests
this week in a written opinion.
She did defer her ruling on the
bite mark evidence and asked
for a private hearing before
testimony is given at trial.
Overall, Chief Deputy Dis-
trict Attorney Ron Brown said
he is pleased with the judge’s
ruling to move the case for-
ward to trial in September,
and to allow the prosecution to
present the gruesome evidence.
“It’s all systems go in Sep-
tember,” Brown said.
Traumatized children
Roden, 28, who is facing
the death penalty if convicted,
is already serving an eight-year
prison sentence for violating
probation from a previous do-
mestic violence conviction.
He is accused of torturing
and murdering Evangelina
Wing in December 2014. An
autopsy found the toddler ap-
parently died of battered child
syndrome with blunt force
trauma to her head.
Roden is also accused of
abusing the two brothers, Pat-
rick Wing, now 3, and Peydon
Kahclamat-Harding, now 7.
The boys are living with family
in California.
Doctors describe the chil-
drens’ injuries as torture. A pe-
diatric doctor testiied in April
EO MEDIA/FILE PHOTO
Defense attorney Conor Huseby leads Randy Roden away after a hearing at Clatsop County
Courthouse.
that Peydon is one of the most
traumatized children she had
ever seen.
Prosecutors believe Evan-
gelina Wing and her brothers
were tortured, burned, bitten
and caged in the Seaside apart-
ment their mother, Dorothy
Wing, shared with Roden.
Wing, 26, pleaded guilty in
January to irst-degree man-
Mother, daughter saved
from rough Seaside surf
Just after 4 p.m., Tuesday,
June 14, waves at Seaside
beaches were high. “It was a
mess, we were having squalls
at the time,” City Manager
Mark Winstanley said. “The
tide was going out and going
out hard.”
When a mother and daugh-
ter drifted too far into the wa-
ter off the beach near Avenue
S, Seaside Fire and Rescue
was called. The pair had not
been seen for several minutes.
Without a distinct reference
point, lifeguards Shara Ford,
Sam Whisler, Ben Hamar
and David Rankin entered the
ocean at the last point the vic-
tims were seen. Contact was
made three blocks south on
the outside breakers.
The mother and daughter,
who were visiting extended
family from Utah, were safe-
ly returned and transferred to
an ambulance for treatment.
Both had mild hypothermia.
One was transported to an
area hospital for further eval-
uation, according to David
Rankin, division operations
chief of Seaside Fire Depart-
ment.
“Our ire department con-
tinues to have very dedicat-
ed lifeguards and ireighters
— many of whom are volun-
teers — who have put in a lot
of time over the last couple
of years training for ocean
The Cannon Beach Gazette
and The Daily Astorian, sister
publications to the Seaside
Signal, combined to win eight
awards in the Region 10 Soci-
ety of Professional Journalists
contest. The Gazette won an
award for third place, non-
weekly publication.
The contest is the largest
of its kind in the nation, with
2,300 entrants and 150 catego-
ries. “The contest covers some
of the least populated areas of
the United States, some of its
most densely populated, and
everything in between, in-
cluding Alaska, Washington,
Idaho, Montana, and Oregon,”
according to the group’s web-
Roden’s defense lawyers
attempted to dismiss the case
by claiming doctors never
CORRECTION: In the Seaside High School Class of 2016 graduation section, informa-
tion regarding graduating senior Michael Oberembt was incorrect. The corrected entry is below .
MICHAEL OBEREMBT
College Plans: Attend Clatsop Community College
Career Plans: Work in computer repair or comput-
er programming
Paciica Project: Seaside Chamber
AmbassadorsHonors/Awards/Scholarships:
Student of the Month
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Seaside lifeguards and ireighters came to the aid of two
family members caught in the surf.
rescues in addition to all the
other ire, rescue, and emer-
gency medical training we are
required to do,” Rankin said.
The department has not re-
ceived updates since the inci-
dent, he added.
“It was a cooperative effort
between the lifeguards and the
rest of the ire department, in
addition to Medix Ambulance
in responding to the incident
and getting both victims out
of the water and to the am-
bulance safely,” Rankin said.
“Ocean rescues are typically
chaotic, fast-paced emergen-
cies with minimal information
and are manpower intensive.”
By Thursday afternoon,
site. The Portland Business
Journal won irst place in the
category, followed by Seat-
tle’s Real Change.
The Daily Astorian com-
peted in the medium category
against daily print and online
publications with a staff of
11 to 25. The Astorian has 11
regular full-time newsroom
staffers.
In the daily category:
General Excellence: Sec-
ond place, staff
Arts & Entertainment:
First place, Translating nature
into art, Rebecca Sedlak
Arts & Entertainment:
Second place, Goonies fans
turn out for bonire, Erick
Bengel
Business Reporting: Sec-
D EL ’S O .K .
D EL ’S O .K .
the Seaside Fire Depart-
ment’s Facebook page was
illed with appreciation. “You
guys rock,” said Seaside High
School grad Sharon Mowick.
“Thank you for all your ser-
vice.”
Others echoed the senti-
ments.
“It’s dificult to ind people
once they’ve been washed off
the beach,” Winstanley said
Thursday. “If you see life-
guards, you might say thank-
you to them. Their jobs are
not just picking up trash. Ev-
ery summer they end up doing
beach rescues, and this is one
where people would probably
have lost their lives.”
ond place, Cowan Dairy: A
family affair, Edward Stratton
Column: Second place, In
One Ear, Elleda Wilson
Editorial & Commen-
tary: Third place, Daily Asto-
rian editorials, Steve Forrester
Best Photo Portfolio: First
place, Joshua Bessex Portfolio
In the nondaily category:
General Excellence: Third
place, Cannon Beach Gazette
Longtime oficer named
Seaside police lieutenant
Bruce Holt takes
second in command
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Lt. Bruce Holt was named
Seaside police lieutenant
at the June 13 City Council
meeting. Holt ills vacancies
created by the shooting death
of Jason Goodding in Febru-
ary and the retirement of Lt.
Steve Barnett.
“Tonight I have the hon-
or and privilege to announce
Sgt. Bruce Holt is now going
to be lieutenant,” Seaside
Police Chief Dave Ham told
the council.
Holt, 58, a 33-year de-
partment veteran, was pro-
moted to sergeant in 1989. In
years since, he earned detec-
tive certiications and taught
irearms and emergency ve-
hicle operations. “He’s spent
numerous hours and a lot of
years with law enforcement
training,” Ham said. “He’s a
really good asset for the po-
sition of lieutenant.”
SeasideSignal.com
Conceal Carry
permit c classes
sses
Thursday, June 30 th
1pm and 6pm
Ham said after the loss of
Goodding and the departure
of Barnett, Holt “did not skip
a beat. He’s been playing the
second-in-command leader-
ship role even before I asked
him. He’s a morale builder and
a good it for our department.
I’m looking forward to his
partnership and teamwork.”
Holt said he appreciated
the continued opportunity to
serve the city and those who
visit. “The bottom line is to
keep our troops safe, and to
encourage the public to be
safe in their endeavors in the
community they live and vis-
it,” Holt said.
Holt’s wife of almost 36
years, Dana, was in the au-
dience along with friends
and family members. Also
in attendance were Cannon
Beach police oficers Seth
Collins and James Jordan.
“You know it’s great to
see other police people sup-
porting you,” Mayor Don
Larson said before the coun-
cil unanimously approved
Holt’s promotion. “Thank
you, Chief, for your choice.”
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Attempts to dismiss
tested the children’s tissue for
a dangerous lesh-eating virus
known as methicillin-resis-
tant Staphylococcus aureus
infection. The defense has an
expert — Janice Ophoven, a
pediatric forensic pathologist
— who claims the toddler
likely died from complica-
tions of the infection, rather
than from blunt-force trauma.
Parents or Guardian: Andrew and Trixi Oberembt
Gazette wins regional Society of
Professional Journalists award
EO Media Group
slaughter and two counts of
irst-degree criminal mistreat-
ment. She was sentenced to
more than 15 years in prison,
contingent on her truthfully
testifying at Roden’s trial.
The two brothers also showed
signs of the infection, she
said.
“(The doctors) acted in
good faith,” Brownhill con-
cluded. “Moreover, it was not
apparent in December 2014
that testing more tissue for
MRSA would produce evi-
dence favorable to the defen-
dant.”
The defense lawyers tried
to claim Roden does not
qualify for the death penalty
because he is intellectually
disabled. Brownhill denied
their request, concluding that
Roden illustrated a history of
bad behavior, not intellectual
disabilities.
Throughout his school
years in Georgia, Roden
threaten to kill himself, threat-
ened to kill teachers and other
students, hit and slapped other
students, threw things in class
and used foul and vulgar lan-
guage.
“He was in special edu-
cation services in school be-
cause of his behavior, not his
intellect,” Brownhill wrote.
“He earned good grades when
he wanted to play football.
His poor grades were due in
large part to absenteeism and
his refusal to work.”
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Cannon Beach
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