The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Ronald Terry Stephens, 40, in Sandy, Ore. around 7:30 p.m. He’s facing charges of two counts of first-degree murder. Thursday at an apartment complex near the intersection of Southwest Greenburg Road and 95th Avenue called The Birches. Officers who responded to the call found the man and woman dead there, they said.
Police called an immediate search to track down a suspect and asked people in the area to stay indoors while a K9 team went through the neighborhood. The search was called off around 1 p.m. Around 9 p.m., Tigard police said U.S. Marshals had taken Stephens into custody in Sandy. Tigard police said they believe Stephens was known to the victims and that “this was not a random act.” Stephens was being held on two counts of first-degree murder. Investigators said the killings were not random, and Stephens was likely familiar with the slain woman and man.
Stephens has been convicted of multiple felonies in Oregon, dating back to 1999, including drug possession, attempted robbery and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon, according to court documents. He’s not new to the judicial system. He’s still pending charges from back in Sept leading police on a chase. Now murder charges.
“Every available officer that we had went to the scene and then detectives, of course, and the Washington County Major Crimes Team,” Tigard police spokesperson Kelsey Anderson said. “Four people have been killed in Tigard this year,” Anderson said. “That’s pretty unusual, but I wouldn’t draw any correlation between that and the gun violence that has been happening in Portland.” Police have not released information about the circumstances of the double homicide. An investigation is underway. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
