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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2016)
November 11, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 3A Roden found guilty in brutal murder of Seaside toddler Avoids the death penalty but could spend decades in prison Wing gets 15 years in daughter’s death Pleaded guilty to manslaughter, criminal mistreatment By Edward Stratton By Katie Frankowicz EO Media Group For EO Media Group A Seaside man accused of torturing and killing his girl- friend’s 2-year-old daughter was found guilty of murder by abuse, manslaughter, criminal mistreatment and assault on Monday, Oct. 31, but was ac- quitted of even more serious charges that could have result- ed in the death penalty or life in prison. Randy Roden, 28, could still spend the next few de- cades in prison, however. He faced more than a doz- en serious charges, including charges of murder by abuse and felony murder, for the death of Evangelina Wing in December 2014. On Mon- day, a 12-person jury found him guilty of these last two charges, as well as assault and criminal mistreatment charges tied to his abuse of Evangelina and her two brothers. Roden was acquitted of charges that alleged he sexual- ly abused Wing. The state had argued that certain injuries to Wing were the result of sexual abuse and that Roden was mo- tived to kill the child in order to cover up any evidence of this abuse and to ensure she didn’t tell anyone. Though he was also not convicted on the four counts of aggravated murder, which carried the possibility of the death penalty and included the accusation that he had tortured Wing before her death, he was convicted on lesser charges of first-degree manslaughter. Prison time These charges, coupled with the murder by abuse and felony murder charges, carry significant prison time, po- tentially up to 35 years — or at least that’s what the state hopes. “This man should never be around another child ever again,” said Deputy District At- torney Ron Brown, who prose- cuted the case for the state. He said he was pleased with the verdict and plans to ask that Roden serve all his time on the various charges consecutively — one after the other — instead of overlap- ping the various sentences and serving them at the same time. He is already serving time for violating parole on an earlier coercion conviction. Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Paula Brownhill scheduled a sentencing hear- ing for Nov. 21. The verdict While Brownhill read the verdict, Roden kept his head down, sometimes running his hands over his forehead and the back of his head. At the be- ginning of the hearing, he and his lawyers discussed wheth- er or not he should have his handcuffs off. Conor Huseby, Roden’s attorney, said Roden DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP Randy Roden reacts as his verdict is read at Clatsop County Circuit Court in Astoria. ‘This man should never be around another child ever again.’ Ron Brown deputy district attorney was in a bad emotional state and there were concerns he might hurt himself when the verdict was read. Brownhill said the decision was up to them, and Sheriff’s Office deputies ultimately re- moved Roden’s handcuffs. The jury was united on most of the verdict, the presid- ing juror who handed the ver- dict to Brownhill said. They were “hung” on one charge (a second charge of murder by abuse), but Brown and Huse- by agreed to accept the verdict as a whole. The jury had deliberated for close to two days after sitting through hours of testi- mony and particularly brutal evidence which included a blood-stained door and graph- ic photos of Evangelina and her extensive injuries. These injures included two black eyes, a broken arm, hem- orrhaging around her head, bruises and other marks. Both her mother, Dorothy Wing, DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP Randy Roden exits the courtroom after his verdict is read at Clatsop County Circuit Court in Astoria. Roden was found guilty of murder by abuse, manslaughter, criminal mistreat- ment and assault but was acquitted of other murder charges that could have carried the death penalty or life in prison. and Roden were implicated in her death, with Dorothy sentenced to over 15 years in prison for manslaughter and criminal mistreatment. Later, a juror told the newspaper the verdict was a “hard-fought decision.” Multiple times during the final days of the trial and af- ter the reading of the verdict, Brownhill thanked the jury for their service in what she and Brown both called a very dif- ficult case. Back in his office after the verdict was read, Brown said he felt for the jury. He and other lawyers have a hard time with cases like this, he said, but the nature of their work demands they routinely deal with the sort of things most of the jurors wouldn’t necessarily encounter in their day-to-day life. Every day during Roden’s trial, jurors had to look at the pictures in evidence and hear testimony related to the brutal death of a young child. “And they’re just doing their patriotic duty,” Brown said. Before dismissing the jury, Brownhill said court staff would look into finding counselors for any juror who needed to talk through the ex- perience. Dorothy Wing, the moth- er of murdered toddler Evan- gelina Wing, was sentenced Tuesday, Nov. 1, to more than 15 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter and two counts of first-de- gree criminal mistreatment. Wing had faced a life sen- tence for murder by abuse and six counts of criminal mistreatment. She pleaded guilty in January to the less- er charges after agreeing to truthfully testify against her former boyfriend Randy Roden, who was convicted Monday in the murder of her daughter in Seaside nearly two years ago. The couple called 911 Dec. 20, 2014, after discov- ering Evangelina unrespon- sive. An autopsy later found the girl had died from blunt- force trauma. Wing’s two sons were also found badly injured and hospitalized. The two were later taken into protective custody and now live with family in Cal- ifornia. Prosecutors believe all three children were tortured, burned, bitten and caged in the months before Evange- lina’s death. Copious blood spatter was discovered around the apartment. The D EL ’S O .K . JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP Dorothy Wing, right, looks over as her attorney, John Gutbezahl, makes com- ments during Wing’s plea hearing in January. discoveries have been de- scribed as one of the worst cases of child abuse in Clat- sop County’s history. Roden was found guilty Monday of murder by abuse, manslaughter, crim- inal mistreatment and as- sault. He avoided more se- rious charges, including four counts of aggravated mur- der, for which he faced the death penalty. Roden still faces up to 35 years in prison. He will be sentenced later this month. Wing, who has previous- ly admitted culpability in what happened to her chil- dren, said she had hoped that the stories Roden told her about her children’s injuries under his care were true. Circuit Court Judge Paula Brownhill admon- ished Wing for allowing the abuse of her children, before agreeing to sentence her to 190 months in prison. 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