Oregon

Oregon man arrested in 1974 cold case murders of 2 teens

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An Oregon man was arrested this week after being linked to the 1974 chilly case homicides of two youngsters, authorities mentioned.

Steven Paul Criss, 65, of Aloha, was a youngster himself when he allegedly used a .22 caliber gun to fatally shoot teenagers Donald Bartron and Peter Zito Jr. within the car parking zone of a recreation middle on Oct. 3, 1974, in keeping with a press release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Workplace.

The our bodies of Bartron, 16, and Zito Jr., 18, had been discovered on the bottom subsequent to a 1956 Oldsmobile that had its hood popped open as the kids labored on it. Bartron and Zito had been shot within the head, in keeping with the sheriff’s workplace.

Det. Mark Povolny mentioned Friday throughout a information convention that Criss was an early suspect within the case, after he was arrested in December of 1974 for theft and a deputy discovered a .22 caliber gun. The weapon was examined to see if it matched proof within the teenagers’ slayings, Povolny mentioned.

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After there was no match, the gun was returned to Criss, who joined the Military and was assigned to Fort Lewis in Washington in 1976. He used the identical .22 caliber gun to kill his commanding officer Sgt. Jacob “Kim” Brown, officers mentioned.

Criss had broken Brown’s automobile and owed him just a few hundred {dollars}, Povolny mentioned.

“As a substitute of paying his debt, he shot Sgt. Brown 5 occasions within the head,” he mentioned.

Criss was sentenced to 35 years in Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, however solely served a dozen years and was paroled in 1988, in keeping with the sheriff’s workplace.

Newspaper accounts in 1976 confirmed Criss was accused of killing Brown after which pleaded responsible within the slaying.

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Detectives this 12 months despatched the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives proof for testing, which confirmed Criss’ .22 caliber gun was used within the teenagers’ 1974 slaying and matched the weapon used to kill Brown solely two years later, authorities mentioned.

“The gun Steve Criss used to homicide Sgt. Brown was the truth is the identical gun he used to homicide Donny Bartron and Pete Zito Jr.,” Povolny mentioned Friday.

Detectives determined to take a second take a look at the ballistic proof as a result of testing hadn’t been carried out in practically 50 years, Povolny mentioned.

After the ATF decided Criss’ gun was used within the separate slaying instances, the Oregon State Police Crime Lab confirmed the match, officers mentioned.

Authorities didn’t disclose what motive Criss had for allegedly fatally taking pictures Bartron and Zito Jr.

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Barbara Zito, of Kent, Washington, was 26 years previous when her brother was killed.

She instructed NBC Information on Friday, “I am glad there’s a shot at justice right here.”

Zito remembers her youthful brother’s dying was a “profound loss” and never realizing why he was killed was devastating.

Investigators have instructed her that her sibling might need simply been unfortunate.

“It appears to be like as if Peter was simply within the improper place on the improper time,” she mentioned. “He was there when his good friend was shot and the killer shot my brother as a result of he was an eyewitness.”

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Relations of Bartron weren’t instantly reached Friday.

A grand jury indicted Criss on two counts of second-degree homicide and he was arrested Wednesday. Criss was arraigned on the fees Thursday and was held on no bail, in keeping with officers with the sheriff’s workplace and district legal professional’s workplace.

A county prosecutor mentioned a protection legal professional had not been supplied for Criss as of Friday afternoon. Relations for Criss weren’t reached Friday.

The sheriff’s workplace additionally apologized in its assertion and through the Friday information convention for arresting an harmless man for the kids’ slayings in 1974. The fees towards that man, Joseph Amir Wilson, had been dropped in January 1975, officers mentioned.

“I’m extraordinarily grateful the fees had been dropped earlier than prosecution,” Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett mentioned Friday. “However that doesn’t change the truth that he spent a number of months in jail, charged with two murders he didn’t commit.”

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Wilson died in 2000, officers mentioned.

Garrett additionally praised investigators within the 1974 case, together with then-deputy Jim Spinden, who arrested Criss for theft and preserved proof that led to his arrest 48 years after the kids had been slaying.


Helen Kwong, Madelyn Urabe and Erick Mendoza contributed.

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