Murder case a glimpse of gang life in Eugene
EUGENE, Ore. - A Eugene gang member was sentenced Thursday in Lane County Court after pleading guilty to murdering a fellow gang member.
Investigators say on Halloween of 2006, Michael Vaughan and Noah Thacker were two of six gang members who broke into a home, robbed and tortured a marijuana grower, Eugene Miller-Pomlee.
Pomlee was left to die, but survived.
Vaughan thought Thacker might tell police about the crime, so Vaughan shot and killed him before setting his body on fire. Vaughan was later convicted of the Halloween robbery and attempted murder.
While serving his sentence for those crimes, he also pleaded guilty to the murder of Noah Thacker. As part of a plea agreement, Vaughan was sentenced to life in prison for the murder that coincidentally happened just outside of what the new Downtown Eugene Exclusion Zone protects.
So, will gang members just bring their crime to other parts of the city not protected by the zone?
One of the first things Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad told reporters right after the court hearing is that gang crime can spread quickly through the city and county. He also said it's great that eight Eugene Police officers will focus on keeping Downtown Eugene safe, but gang violence is a much bigger problem. Those affects of that problem showed outside of the courtroom.
"He's my only child. He's my son. He's my child. We have grandchildren," said Vaughn's mother as she looked for answers from her son's lawyer.
Attorney Dan Koenig told a Lane County judge in a matter of just three weeks, gang violence turned two families upside down.
"I'm grieving. I'm grieving," said Thacker's mother, Karen Hoffman.
Vaughan, a grad from Churchill High School of Eugene, was like any other kid. He played varsity lacrosse and worked at Safeway supermarket. In a span of just three weeks back in 2006 gangs seduced him, drugs paved a path, and in those three weeks he robbed, tortured and ultimately killed.
Parents of the two hope others in gangs, or thinking about joining a gang, learn from Vaughan and Thacker's story.
"That they don't get caught up in the same situation," said Hoffman.
"I would hope that they would want better for themselves than drug activity and gang activity," said Vaughan's step-dad, Douglas Barr.
Thacker's murder cost Vaughan's freedom, tore apart lives and prompted awareness of what's happening in this community.
"This is a gang killing. And it's a gang killing in the heart of Eugene," said Harcleroad.
Court records show Vaughan and Thacker were members of a gang labled "Gangster Disciples. Deputy District Attorney Alex Gardner said authorities have identified six other gangs including the "Crips" and "Bloods" committing crime in Lane County.
Prosecutors said if Vaughan hadn't accepted the plea agreement he would have faced the death penalty.
But Harcleroad believes the death penalty would have been hard to get. To put things in perspective, only two people in Oregon have been executed since 1984.
