David Taylor was sentenced to death by the State of Oregon for the murder of a man following a bank robbery. According to court documents David Taylor would rob a bank and would flee in a vehicle driven by Celestino “Tino” Gutierrez. Once they reached the safe house David Taylor would murder Celestino “Tino” Gutierrez. David Taylor who already served nearly thirty years for another murder was sentenced to death.
Taylor killed Celestino “Tino” Gutierrez, 22, in 2012 to use his car as a getaway in a bank robbery. Gutierrez’s body was dismembered and buried in woods southwest of Eugene. Prosecutors said the killing happened at Taylor’s home and he planned it along with associates, including one who posed as a stranded woman in a bar parking lot and asked Gutierrez for a ride.
David Taylor Other News
Convicted killer David Ray Taylor was formally sentenced to death Tuesday in Eugene for killing a man in 2012 to take his car for a bank robbery.
The 58-year-old Eugene man becomes the 35th person on Oregon’s death row at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.
His case will be automatically reviewed by the state Supreme Court and the appeals process could take decades.
A jury decided last week Taylor should be executed for his part in killing 22-year-old Celestino Gutierrez.
The Register-Guard reports the victim’s family condemned Taylor at his sentencing hearing. The mother, Rose Gutierrez, told Taylor he should do everyone a favor and kill himself.
Joshua and Bruce Turnidge were sentenced to death by the State of Oregon for a bombing that killed two police officers. According to court documents Joshua and Bruce Turnidge attempted to rob the West Coast Bank in Woodburn and when that failed they set off a bomb that would kill two police officers, Woodburn police Capt. Tom Tennant and Oregon State Police senior trooper William Hakim. Joshua and Bruce Turnidge would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Bruce Turnidge and his son Joshua were found guilty of all charges in the Dec. 12, 2008, bombing at West Coast Bank in Woodburn. Killed in the explosion were two police officers, Woodburn police Capt. Tom Tennant and Oregon State Police senior trooper William Hakim. Another officer lost his leg and a bank employee was injured when police tried to dismantle the bomb.
Bruce Turnidge Other News
It was business as usual on a dreary Friday afternoon in Woodburn 10 years ago.
Outside the West Coast Bank on Highway 214, drivers zoomed by on their evening commutes. The Pacific Northwest’s ubiquitous winter rain shrouded the city.
Inside the bank, signs of the looming holiday dotted the lobby — a Christmas tree, poinsettias and festive decorations.
Earlier, an ominous phone call led police to a green box tucked into the bushes outside the bank.
Investigators carried it into the bank where, at 5:24 p.m., a bomb inside the box tore the building apart, killing two law enforcement officers, seriously maiming the Woodburn police chief and sending a father and son to Oregon’s death row.
The aftermath of the bomb also threatened to tear the community apart. People mourned the loss of the officers, their sense of security and safety. The criminal investigation and ensuing trial lasted years.
Anger and hatred could’ve easily filled a community shocked by something of this magnitude, said Woodburn City Administrator Scott Derickson.
Derickson had only been on the job a few weeks when an officer knocked on his door the night of Dec. 12, 2008, about an hour after the bombing.
Everything after that felt like a blur, he said.
He remembers meeting with Mayor Kathy Figley to discuss what the city’s message would be in the wake of the tragedy.
The mayor looked at me and said, ‘We are going to focus on love. We’re going to tell the community that this is the time to stand together’,” Derickson said.
And, the mayor added, “We’re going to tell the community that Woodburn is better than this.”
That Friday began to turn ugly when a man called a Wells Fargo Bank in Woodburn, telling an employee that everyone in the building would die if they didn’t leave immediately.
He instructed the employee to retrieve a disposable cell phone, which was discovered outside near a garbage can. A green metal box was also found in the bushes at the nearby West Coast Bank.
Investigators deemed the call and the green box to be a hoax.
Oregon State Police Senior Trooper William Hakim decided to take the box inside the bank for further examination. Accompanied by Woodburn police Capt. Thomas Tennant and Chief Scott Russell, Hakim began dismantling the box.
Bank employee Laurie Perkett remembers Hakim saying, “Okay, I got it.”
Video footage of the moments before the explosion shows Tennant and Hakim kneeling next to the box amid the computers, desks and Christmas decorations.
Suddenly, the footage goes black.
The explosion ripped through the bank, killing Hakim and Tennant, seriously injuring Russell and wounding Perkett.
Additional surveillance captured debris blown across the room and plumes of gray and white smoke.
Detective Sgt. Nick Wilson, who was ordered outside by Russell to do a perimeter check moments before the explosion, heard the blast, saw a flash of light and rushed in the lobby to find a war zone-like scene.
He and Sgt. John Mikkola found Hakim and Tennant, almost unrecognizable and already dead from the explosion, then discovered Chief Russell bleeding profusely from his leg.
Wilson used his belt as a tourniquet on the chief.
Perkett, who was walking toward the door as the device exploded, was hit with a piece of shrapnel.
It wasn’t until later, when she was talking with first responders, that she looked down at her bloodied leg and realized the shrapnel had cut her to the bone.
The explosion shut down nearby highways and officers filled the area, a cluster of strip malls and residential homes just south of the Interstate 5 interchange.
News of serious injuries filtered out into the community.
The next day, state police identified the men killed as Hakim, a certified hazardous device technician from Keizer, and Tennant, a Woodburn police captain who joined the department in 1980.
Hundreds of investigators poured into Marion County to track down those responsible.
Lead investigator Marion County Sheriff’s Detective Mike Myers told the Statesman Journal in 2013 that 265 investigators from multiple agencies worked on the bank bombing case.
City administrator Derickson said in the hours and days after the bombing, hundreds of agencies, police departments, community members and businesses offered their help.
“The city was stumbling,” he said. “We lost two-thirds of our leadership and half of our police department. They were taken out of action as either witnesses or because they were impacted or they were wounded.”
He recalls getting a random call on his cell phone from Seattle officials, who offered to send an officer and patrol car down to help cover shifts.
The outpouring of support was overwhelming.
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” Derickson said. “They really held the city up when we could have actually fallen down. The wheels could’ve come off, but they didn’t because people rushed in and propped us up until we could stabilize and move forward.”
Back then, current Woodburn Police Chief Jim Ferraris was with the Portland Police Bureau, which provided resources for the law enforcement response and hospitalization of Russell.
He said people in the policing community made a commitment to support Woodburn as much as possible.
Ferraris said he watched as the community strengthened and residents spurred into action, rather than descend into hate and fear.
The investigation led to the arrest of Joshua Turnidge at his Salem home. His father, Bruce Turnidge, was arrested at his residence in Jefferson, where investigators said they found materials matching metal bomb fragments found at the crime scene.
According to prosecutors, the father and son concocted the bomb threat to fund their failing biodiesel business. They also have argued that the pair shared anti-government beliefs and were fearful that the election of President Barack Obama signaled a trend toward the government clamping down on gun rights.
The Turnidges’ trial lasted almost two months and attracted massive public attention.
Weeks of witness testimony, video footage of the carnage and forensic evidence was presented.
Both Turnidges maintained their innocence and pointed to each other as the sole culprit.
The jury deliberated for only four hours before unanimously finding the men guilty on all 18 counts against them, including aggravated murder, attempted murder and unlawful manufacture of a destructive device.
The Turnidges showed little reaction as the verdict was read before a packed courtroom.
The men were later sentenced to death and remain on death row due to the state’s ongoing moratorium on executions.
Former Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau said the bombing was “the most complex criminal investigation and prosecution in the modern history of Marion County.”
He also said the impact of the tragedy on the community was immense.
Ferraris said about one-third of the current police department were employees at the time of the bombing.
“It stays with them,” he said. “It’s something they never forget. We vowed in the police department to never forget Tom Tennant, to never forget Bill Hakim, and never forget the injuries that Scott Russell and others endured as a result of that event.”
Russell, who lost his right leg in the blast and underwent dozens of surgeries, continued as police chief until his retirement in 2015.
Derickson remembers the crowded vigil held in downtown Woodburn the weekend of the bombing — people of all different cultures, languages and religions, who gathered to hold candles and pray.
“The message was that hate did this,” he said. “We are not going to hate anybody. We are going to love each other. We are going to be a community. The community is going to stand up and make sure that the future is better than this and not worse.”
Mike Washington was sentenced to death by the State of Oregon for the murder of a man who testified against him. According to court documents Mike Washington was upset that the victim was dating his ex girlfriend so he would break into his home and assaulted him. When the victim pressed charges and testified against him Mike Washington would murder the victim. Mike Washington would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
n 2004 Washington killed witness Mohamed Jabbie who testified against him after Jabbie appeared before a Multnomah County grand jury. Jabbie, 33, crossed Washington’s path after he started dating Shirleen Stafford, Washington’s longtime girlfriend, in early 2004. In July of that year, Washington broke into Stafford’s house and beat Jabbie. Jabbie testified about the assault before a Multnomah County grand jury on Sept. 23, 2004. The next night, Washington, who lived in Gresham, walked into Jabbie’s apartment near Clackamas Town Center and shot him seven times.
Mike Washington Other News
Thirty years ago, Akim Jabbie befriended a North Portland family. He drove the family’s matriarch, a woman he called Mother Washington, to church, gave them furniture and his kindness.
On Monday, Jabbie sat in the front row of a Clackamas County courtroom watching as a member of that family, Mike Spencer Washington Jr., received a death sentence for murdering Jabbie’s son, Mohamed.
Mohamed Jabbie, 33, was shot to death Sept, 24, 2004, the day after he testified before a grand jury about being assaulted by Washington. Prosecutors said Washington killed Jabbie to silence him and avoid prison.
On Monday, jurors unanimously concluded that Washington poses a significant future danger to society and should be put to death. Washington will be formally sentenced May 17.
Washington, 37, of Gresham showed little emotion and did not look at the jury as the decision was read.
Prosecutors Michael Regan and Bryan Brock argued that Washington is a dangerous, unrepentant criminal who merited a death sentence. “Mike Washington is well-acquainted with death. He causes it,” Regan said. “He deserves it.”
They pointed to Washington’s 20-year criminal history, which includes convictions for rape, assault, robbery and drugs, and his status as senior member of a street gang — the Six Deuce East Coast Crips.
Some gang members, longtime friends of Washington, attended the trial. Their presence unnerved some jurors and witnesses.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office opened a criminal investigation into witness intimidation that may have occurred during the trial, Detective Dan Kraus said Monday.
Jurors heard powerful testimony from some of Washington’s victims: a 34-year woman who was gang raped when she was 13 by Washington and four other teenagers; a woman who was violently choked by Washington; and the boyfriend of Washington’s adult daughter, who was beaten by others while Washington held him at gunpoint.
Investigators immediately identified Washington as the prime suspect, but building the case took years. During that time, Akim Jabbie regularly called prosecutors, detectives, the sheriff, the district attorney — anyone who could pursue the case against Washington.
“He made sure no one forgot about his kid,” said Kraus, the lead investigator.
Mohamed Jabbie, a native of Sierra Leone, legally immigrated to the United States in 1996 and worked as a medical transport assistant. He started dating Shirleen Stafford, Washington’s long-time girlfriend, in early 2004. In July of that year, Washington broke into Stafford’s house and beat Jabbie.
Stafford served as the key witness against Washington. Her testimony, along with cell phone data that pinpointed the location of her and Washington, was crucial to the prosecution’s case. Stafford served as a Judas goat, helping lead Jabbie to his death. She visited him the night of the murder, stepping out of his apartment as Washington walked in and shot Jabbie seven times.
Stafford was charged with murder, but, in return for her testimony, the charge was reduced to hindering prosecution.
Defense attorneys asked jurors to be merciful and look at the full measure of Washington’s life, not just his criminal history. Consider Washington’s dangerous and chaotic childhood, and how it shaped his life, urged Benjamin Kim, one of Washington’s attorneys.
Washington was born while his mother was in prison. During his early years in south central Los Angles, he was exposed to domestic violence, gangs and his father’s drug use. His parents split up when Washington was about 5.
“The law allows for compassion and understanding,” Kim said.
Akim Jabbie did not feel compassion Monday afternoon as he watched Washington leave the courtroom in chains.
“I am a religious man,” Jabbie said. “I always tell people to forgive.”
It was advice he could not heed.
“Right now, I would not be able to. I’d be lying to myself,” Jabbie said. “Maybe down the road.”
Ricardo Serrano was sentenced to death by the State of Oregon for the murders of a woman and her two children. According to court documents Ricardo Serrano found out that the victim’s husband and father had an affair with his wife so he decided to get his revenge by killing Melody Dang, 37, and sons Steven, 15, and Jimmy, 12. Ricardo Serrano would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
A Washington County jury sentenced Serrano to death for the 2006 shooting of Melody Dang, 37, and sons Steven, 15, and Jimmy, 12. Prosecutors said Serrano was seeking revenge against Mike Nguyen, Dang’s partner. Nguyen had an affair with Serrano’s wife, Melinda, and got her pregnant.
Ricardo Serrano Other News
Defendant was married to Melinda. After she discovered that defendant was having an affair with another woman, Melinda decided to end their marriage. Around that time, Melinda became romantically involved with a coworker, Nguyen, who lived with Melody Dang and her two sons, Steven and Jimmy. Melody was aware of Nguyen’s relationship with Melinda.
During their relationship, Nguyen taught Melinda various phrases in Vietnamese, which Melinda wrote down in a check register. Melinda kept the check register in her vehicle, to which defendant did not have a key. In July 2006, Melinda discovered that she was pregnant. She believed that Nguyen was the father. In September, Melinda left defendant and moved into her sister’s apartment. When that living arrangement failed to work out, Melinda moved back in with defendant.
As those events were unfolding, defendant became acquainted with two sisters, Madriz–Mendoza and Miranda–Mendoza. Miranda–Mendoza worked with Melinda and Nguyen, but she did not know that Melinda was married to defendant. Defendant asked Miranda–Mendoza questions about her coworkers, including what they looked like, whether any of the women were pregnant, and whether she knew a curly-haired man named “Mike.” On one occasion, as Melinda was leaving work, she stopped to talk with a group of fellow workers—including Nguyen, who was the only person in the group with curly hair. Defendant drove up and angrily told Melinda that she was disrespecting him by talking to the group.
On the evening of November 2, 2006, Melody, Steven, and Jimmy were at Nguyen’s house. Nguyen was at work, as was Melinda. Melody and Nguyen had a phone conversation at about 8:30 p.m. Melody sometimes visited Vietnamese-language internet chat-rooms and often had phone conversations with men whom she had met in those chat-rooms. At about 9:00 p.m., Melody called Tran, a Florida resident whom she had met online. As they were talking, Tran heard dogs barking in the background and heard Melody yell, “Oh my God, Oh my God.” Then the call was disconnected. When Tran called back, there was no answer; he then sent text messages to Melody, but there was no reply.
The next morning, Nguyen returned home from work. The lights were on, and his dogs were barking. Nguyen entered the house through the garage and saw that the house was messy. Then he saw Melody’s body in the hallway. Steven was lying next to her. Their bodies were cold. Nguyen then called 9–1–1. The police arrived within minutes. They observed Melody and Steven lying in the hallway, and they found Jimmy inside a bathroom off the hallway. All three victims had been shot to death.
Three additional noteworthy discoveries were made at the scene. First, when he looked around the living room, Nguyen noticed that a laptop computer was missing. Second, the investigating officers recovered two spent .380 caliber shell casings near the victims’ bodies, along with a live .380 caliber cartridge. Third, there was blood on the hallway floor where the victims were found. Using a chemical test, the officers found shoe impressions in the blood.
Melinda returned to defendant’s house that same morning after her work shift. Defendant was not home and his vehicle was gone. Later that same day, Melinda saw defendant’s vehicle parked down the street. Defendant returned home at 4:00 p.m. He told Melinda that he had not gone to work that day, but he did not appear to be ill.
On November 27, police officers searched defendant’s brother’s house. The officers found two handguns, one a .380 caliber pistol. They also found several magazines for a .380 caliber pistol, along with boxes of .380–caliber ammunition. The .380 pistol was later tested by an Oregon State Police firearms examiner. It appeared to have been recently cleaned. The examiner test-fired the pistol and compared the markings on the test bullets to the markings on the bullets recovered from the crime scene. The markings matched. The examiner concluded that the pistol seized from defendant’s brother’s house had fired the bullets found at the crime scene.
On November 28, police officers executed a search warrant at defendant’s residence. Among other items, they found defendant’s shoes and, in the back of his vehicle, a partially-full bottle of bleach. The shoes were later tested for blood. None was found, but the shoes appeared to have been recently washed. The officers also found Melinda’s check register with the Vietnamese phrases written inside, and they found a key that fit the ignition of Melinda’s vehicle. Defendant was arrested the same day. Later, prior to trial, the state compared the shoe impressions found at the crime scene to the tread of defendant’s shoes. The impressions matched defendant’s right shoe.
Melinda moved out of defendant’s house after the search and his arrest. From time to time, she returned to retrieve belongings but, in the meantime, she left the house unlocked. On January 3, 2007, an employee of a property management company cleaned the garage. Underneath a couch, the cleaner found a laptop computer wrapped in a towel inside a garbage bag. When the computer was shown to him, Nguyen recognized that it was similar to the computer that was missing from his living room.
Defendant was indicted on ten counts of aggravated murder. In Counts 1, 2, and 7, which charged defendant with the murder of Melody Dang, the indictment alleged that defendant had murdered her in the course of the same criminal episode that resulted in the death of Steven (count 1); that he had murdered her in the course of the same criminal episode that resulted in the death of Jimmy (count 2); and that he had murdered her in the course of and in furtherance of his commission of first-degree burglary (count 7), ORS 163.095(2)(d); ORS 163.115(1)(b). The counts pertaining to Steven Dang (counts 3, 4, and 8) and Jimmy Dang (counts 5, 6, 9, and 10) were charged in the same manner, except for count 10, which alleged that defendant had murdered Jimmy, who was a person under the age of 14. ORS 163.095(1)(f). A jury found defendant guilty on all counts. In a separate proceeding, the jury answered the relevant death penalty questions, ORS 163.150, in the affirmative. The trial court merged the convictions into three and sentenced defendant to death.
Jesse Johnson was sentenced to death by the State of Oregon for the murder of a woman. According to court documents Jesse Johnson would stab to death Harriet “Sunny” Thompson before robbing her home. Jesse Johnson was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Jesse Johnson was convicted of fatally stabbed Harriet Lavern “Sunny” Thompson, 28, in her Salem house in 1998. Her landlord found her body.
Jesse Johnson Other News
A Marion County Circuit Judge on Monday denied a death row inmate’s request to order new DNA testing in the 1998 fatal stabbing of a Salem woman.
Judge Channing Bennett wrote in an opinion letter that Jesse L. Johnson’s motion for more testing doesn’t show a clear defense theory that could lead to a finding that he is actually innocent in the killing of 28-year-old Harriet “Sunny” Thompson.
Johnson, now 57, asked to test 37 pieces of evidence, including some for the second time. His attorney argued the tests could open new investigative avenues and possibly lead to new suspects.
But that “chain of ‘ifs'” is too weak to constitute a defense, Bennett wrote. Jurors considered the evidence presented during his trial, including his denial, and found him guilty, the judge said.
“Nothing in the defendant’s argument demonstrates that a jury would more likely than not find him not guilty,” the judge wrote.Read the judge’s opinion.
Thompson was found dead from several stab wounds in her apartment in March 1998. Johnson was later found by police selling some of her jewelry.
A Marion County jury found Johnson guilty of aggravated murder in March 2004 and sentenced him to death that same month. The Oregon Supreme Court in 2007 upheld his conviction and death sentence on appeal. Another conviction challenge was struck down in 2015.
In 2016, attorneys with the Oregon Innocence Project were appointed as his lawyers and they filed a motion in Marion County Circuit Court for new DNA testing. They argued that advances in forensic science and updated techniques could lead to Johnson’s exoneration. They noted DNA analysis and other tests of at least 11 items in the case found no ties to Johnson.
Prosecutors asked the court to the deny the motion last year. Both sides argued their points before Bennett in October.
“The defendant’s inability to articulate a recognized theory of defense that DNA testing would support is fatal to the instant motion,” the judge said.
Johnson knew before his 2004 trial that all of the collected evidence had not been analyzed for DNA, but didn’t request the testing before his trial or during his appeal, Bennett wrote. Johnson also didn’t identify any DNA evidence that was improperly presented to the jury, according to the judge. Jurors also knew that some of the evidence tested, such as the object likely used to kill Thompson, didn’t have Johnson’s DNA.
Steve Wax, Johnson’s attorney and the Oregon Innocence Project’s legal director, said Tuesday that the judge’s ruling was disappointing. Johnson is asking for his claim of innocence to be investigated completely while he is still alive, Wax said
“In our view, the State and the court have misinterpreted the standard the law requires in order to grant DNA testing,” Wax said in a statement. “We believe that this decision is legally wrong and unfair to our client and that there are strong grounds for appeal.”
Johnson remains held at the Oregon State Penitentiary. He is one of 33 Oregon inmates on death row.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
