EUGENE, Ore. — A man accused in the killings of his father and two other people in a small Oregon city before he allegedly forced a woman to drive him more than 2,000 miles in her car to Wisconsin last week is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Friday.
Oen Evan Nicholson, 30, is suspected of killing three people on June 18 including his father, Charles Nicholson, another man at the Mill Casino RV campground in the small coastal city of North Bend; and a woman working at a nearby marijuana dispensary.
Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier said in a news release that autopsy reports released Wednesday found the “manner of death for all three victims is homicide,” the Register-Guard reported.
The first death was reported just before 10 a.m. Friday, when Nicholson is accused of stealing his father’s 2019 Dodge pickup truck at the campground and running over Anthony Oyster, 74, who was killed, and his wife Linda Oyster, 73, who was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.
Anthony Oyster died of “massive” internal injuries to the chest and abdomen, according to the autopsy report released Wednesday.
Linda Oyster’s condition improved to fair as of Tuesday at a Springfield hospital, the newspaper reported.
The body of marijuana dispensary manager Jennifer Davidson, 47, was found just after 10 a.m. Friday at Herbal Choices. The autopsy found Davidson died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Nicholson’s father was later found dead inside the trailer he registered at the Mill Casino, Frasier said in a news briefing. Nicholson, 83, died of “sharp force” injuries to his neck, chest and abdomen, the autopsy report said.
Nicholson later Friday drove along a highway until crashing the pickup near Noti, where Frasier said a witness saw Nicholson get out with a handgun and disappear into the woods, police said.
Authorities unsuccessfully searched for Nicholson in that area. Oregon State Police said they suspect that he obtained a ride from Noti to Springfield and are requesting that anyone with information about who gave Nicholson a ride to contact them.
In Springfield, police said Nicholson abducted Laura Johnson while she was on her lunch break in a parking lot. Nicholson forced Johnson to drive him to Wisconsin, where Nicholson peacefully turned himself in to police in Milwaukee, according to Springfield Police.
Johnson was unharmed and has since returned to Oregon, Springfield police said in a news release. “She is currently resting and is enjoying the reunification with her family,” police said.
Frasier said the extradition process to return Nicholson to Oregon would begin following his court appearance Friday.
Nicholson faces 10 charges in Coos County Circuit Court, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, first-degree assault and failure to perform the duties of a driver to injured persons, Frasier said.
Attempts to find out whether Nicholson has a lawyer to speak on his behalf were not immediately successful Wednesday.
