Sunday, July 24, 2011

Article: A list: Family killings in Oregon and southwestern Washington

Published: Saturday, July 23, 2011, 2:00 PM Updated: Saturday, July 23, 2011, 5:03 PM
By Lynne Palombo, The Oregonian

The deaths of five members of the Criado family in Medford on July 18 represent one of the worst family killings in the region in years. Here is a list of some of the other incidents, going back to the early 1980s.

April 2011: Tuan Dao of Vancouver, Wash., distraught about his bankruptcy and failed marriage, set an Easter morning house fire that killed him and five of his children. Dao's wife, Lori and their 13-year-old daughter were not in the home during the fire. They are the immediate family's only survivors. Six killed

November 2009: Steve England shot and killed his wife, Cindy, and her son, Kevin Coleman, 28, and then killed himself at their Forest Grove home. Three killed

November 2009: Mukesh Suthar, unemployed after being laid off from Intel, killed his wife, Varsha, and their son, Ronak, 9, then himself in their Bethany home. Three killed


View full sizeJamie Francis/The Oregonian
Brenda Medina (in red coat) is comforted outside the house where she found her daughter, Tameka, shot to death Thursday morning.
November 2009: Ceantwaun Barr shot and killed his estranged girlfriend Tameka Medina and their four year old son, Ashawn, before killing himself in Portland. Their older daughter, in school that day, was spared. Three killed.

September 2007: Ruby Kuca, 5, was killed by her parents, John and Luray Kuca, when they committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in a sealed bedroom of their Portland home. Three killed

March 2006: Somkhilth Soulinho, 31 shoots and kills his girlfriend, Soupaphane Homsombath, 24, her 8-year-old son, Lionel Homsombath and stabs her 5-year-old daughter, Leana Homsombath. He then shoots himself. Four killed

June 2004: Charlene A. Dorcy, of Hazel Dell, shot and killed daughters Brittney, 2, and Jessica, 4, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Dorcy turned herself in that night. Two killed



Ross William Hamilton/The Oregonian
From left are Bryant Morris, Renee Morris, Jonathan Morris and Alexis Morris. This photo was displayed in the lobby of St. Johns Christian Church where a memorial for the family was held December 28, 2002.
December 2002: Edward Paul Morris killed his 31-year-old pregnant wife Renee and their children, 10-year-old Bryant, 8-year-old Alexis and 4-year-old Jonathan and leaves the bodies of the Portland family in the Tillamook State Forest. Morris is serving a life sentence with parole in Snake River Correctional Institution. Four killed

March 2002: Robert Bryant, his wife, Janet Ellen Bryant, and their four children are found shot to death in their McMinnville-area home. Police think Robert Bryant killed his wife and children in February before killing himself with a shotgun. Six killed

December 2001: Christian Longo killed his wife, MaryJane, and her three children, and dumped the bodies in coastal inlets in Waldport and Newport between Dec. 19 and Dec. 27. Longo is later arrested in Mexico and sentenced to death for the slayings. Four killed

September 1995: David Whitson, 36, of Issaquah, Wash., shot and killed his 36-year-old estranged wife, Laura, and their three young daughters as they tried to run from him in Scotts Mills. Less than a year later, Whitson, hanged himself while in prison. Four killed

January 1992: Seng Chow Saechao, 31, a Laotian refugee, poisoned herself and her three young children in Portland. Two of the children died after drinking a concentrated solution of the pesticide diazinon. Saechao was sentenced to three years in jail for manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Two killed

Nov. 20, 1983: Robert Galloway of Portland fatally shoots (PDF) his wife, Mary Lou, their four children, the family dog and then himself in their Southwest Portland home. The parents were partners in J&J Remodeling Co. Six killed

-- Compiled by news researcher Lynne Palombo

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