Tuesday, January 4, 2005

Clackamas: County Had Five Victims Last Year, Including an Elderly Woman

from The Oregonian,by Emily Tsao

The five Clackamas County homicide victims in 2004 include a mentally ill 49-year-old woman and an 82-year-old shot by her husband. In addition, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a 15-month-old twin as a possible sixth homicide.

In 2003, Clackamas County also recorded five homicides.

2004's tally of homicides started in January when James Orlando Jolley, 79, and his wife, Frances, 82, were found dead in their pink ranch house in the 32000 block of South Ona Way near Molalla. Police think Jolley shot his wife and then himself. Both died of gunshot wounds to the head.

The couple had owned the Jolley Rexall Drug Store and another downtown drugstore, the now-defunct Bernie's Pharmacy. Their deaths shocked the community.

On May 3, Arturo Martinez-Navarro, 25, of Clackamas was found shot to death at the Pineview Apartments near the Clackamas Town Center. A second man, Juan Amaro-Benitez, 27, of Clackamas, was injured.

A Clackamas County grand jury indicted Richard Aguilar-Hernandez, 22, on charges of murder, attempted aggravated murder and assault. Mexican police arrested Aguilar-Hernandez on June 13. The Clackamas County district attorney's office is working to extradite him.

On July 20, Serapio Arce, 38, of Oregon City died at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center after being stabbed in the head a day earlier.

Police said he and another man had been arguing about Arce's ex-girlfriend in the 21400 block of Oregon 99E.

A Clackamas County grand jury indicted Brian James Chandler, 23, of Milwaukie on accusations of manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence. Chandler's trial is set for Jan. 18.

Police discovered the body of Mohamed Jabbie on Sept. 28 after neighbors at the Clackamas Village Apartments, 8800 S.E. Causey Ave., complained of an odor. Police said the 39-year-old who was found in an apartment, had been shot several times.

Clackmas County sheriff's detectives have named Michael Spencer Washington Jr., 32, as a person of interest in the case.

In September, a Clackamas County sergeant fatally shot Joyce M. Staudenmaier, 49, at the Chez Ami apartment complex, which served as home to people with mental illness. Staudenmaier had a history of schizophrenia.

Police said Staudenmaier lunged at Sgt. Paul Steigleder II with a knife in the apartment lobby before he shot her. A Clackamas County grand jury decided the shooting was justified.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of 15-month-old Ashton Parris. Paramedics and police arrived Dec. 14 at the boy's home near the Clackamas Town Center to find the child bleeding from the mouth and not breathing. He was taken to the hospital and died three days later. Police have named no suspects.

His death came about a week after another high-profile child abuse case. Gov. Ted Kulongoski has since called for a review focusing on the child-welfare system in the Portland area.