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(Update: comments from the victim’s sister, photos from the prison, details from the press conference)
Sister of victim: “Honestly, it was just pure relief” after 14 months of waiting
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The family of Ray Atkinson Jr. and his fiancee, Natasha Newby, have been waiting for this day since the couple were killed 14 months ago at their Bend home.
On Friday morning, the Bend Police Department, assisted by the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT), arrested two suspects in the August 15, 2020 murders – Kenneth Atkinson, a 54-year-old Bend resident, and Kenneth’s nephew , Nathan Shane Detroit, a 31-year-old Redmond resident.
The two men were charged with two counts of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were held in Deschutes County Jail on the basis of a bail warrant, awaiting their first court appearance on Monday afternoon.
The bodies of Atkinson Jr., 34, and Newby, 29, were found in the basement of their home on Northeast 12th Street by a worried friend and relative who was checking their welfare.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel had said repeatedly over the following months that the investigation was active, but there was not yet sufficient evidence to lay charges. The long wait for any arrests frustrated friends and family members, as well as other members of the community.
Hummel told reporters at a press conference at Bend City Court on Friday that the couple died of blunt trauma.
Hummel said his office and others involved in the case were under a lot of pressure over time, but it took longer to build the case.
“Ken was the mastermind of these murders,” Hummel said in the ad, “and he was assisted by Nathan, his nephew.”
Hummel says the motive was a dispute over money from Ray and Kenneth’s father’s inheritance and explained why it took so long to make the arrests.
He defended his expectation of enough evidence to indict the two men.
“We quickly saw evidence that there was more than one killer involved. If we had acted quickly to arrest our prime suspect, we would never have had proof of Nathan Shane Detroit,” Hummel said.
And he said the key evidence came when a new team of prosecutors – he called them the “New Eyes Team,” led by Matt Nelson – found a key connection.
“You look at the same evidence every day, sometimes you miss something,” he said. “It’s really important because we saw another key proof in this new look. It was this new piece that we saw in this new look that made it crack.” He is not now disclosing what it was.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said there were hundreds of pieces of evidence and his team was monitoring suspects.
For Ray and Natasha’s families, today’s arrests have brought some peace.
Racheil Hoffman, Newby’s sister, told NewsChannel 21 what the arrests meant to them.
“Just knowing that they are behind bars and that there is no bond is a huge relief for us,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman has spent the past 14 months fighting for justice – something Hummel admitted.
“I thanked her. I thanked her for her tireless advocacy on behalf of her sister,” Hummel said. “She pushed me. She was tough on me.”
“And every time she was, I knew where it was coming from. It was from the love she has for her sister,” Hummel added.
Hummel said the two men “are presumed innocent of these crimes, and indeed are innocent of them, unless and until the state proves their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Hummel also released this statement to residents of Deschutes County:
“Ray and Natasha’s families have been waiting for the arrest of the killers of their relatives for 14 months. I am committed to working tirelessly on this case until we have enough evidence to move forward. Through the hard work of Bend Police detectives, the Oregon State Police Police Lab, and assistant and trial assistants in my office, we have obtained sufficient evidence to prove who committed these crimes and how they committed these crimes.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz also released a statement:
“I hope this arrest will bring a little measure of closure and peace to the family and friends of Ray and Natasha. Investigators in this case who have passed and committed almost every day since August 15, 2020, working to bring justice for the murders of Ray and Natasha, have written more than 50 search warrants for evidence, written more than 380 reports of police and collected nearly 500 pieces of evidence. The Bend Police Department has built on the collaborative partnership we have with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office and many area law enforcement agencies that have helped in some way. another to conduct this in-depth investigation and we are grateful for their engaged partnerships.
Hummel said Friday that Atkinson Jr. and Newby were engaged the following spring. They had, he said, “a lot of furry babies – a lot of cats, a puppy. They were loved. They will be missed.”
Hoffman says that while the suspects have not been convicted, she is grateful for the arrests and is ready for the trip ahead.
“They will finally get justice,” she said.
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