Mystery man identified in case of stolen identity
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Authorities have identified an Oregon man who refused to reveal his true name to a federal judge after he was accused of assuming the name of a dead Ohio boy.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacie Beckerman filed a motion in federal court Thursday identifying the man as Doitchin Krasev.
Beckerman said she could not release any other details.
The man claimed to be Jason Robert Evers, a boy who was kidnapped and killed in Cincinnati in 1982 at age 3. Another man was convicted of the murder and sent to prison.
Krasev was arrested in Idaho in April and charged with making a false statement on a passport application.
While using the name Evers, he worked as an investigator for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission since 2002. He resigned last week while awaiting a hearing in U.S. District Court in Portland on whether he would be released to home detention in Bend with electronic monitoring. A judge approved his release, but that decision was appealed and Krasev remains in custody.
His former co-workers, friends and a woman identified in court only as his fiancee have attended a series of hearings in Portland following his extradition from Idaho.
Those who have been willing to comment have said he was a respected investigator and well-liked, although he was vague about his past.
Krasev is believed to have spent some time in Colorado before moving to Oregon, apparently to be close to a woman his attorney has called a surrogate grandmother.
A U.S. State Department bulletin issued last week suggested he may have been from New Jersey or the Washington, D.C., area, grew up in a foster home, was a master chess player, spoke "street" Spanish and vanished from wherever he'd be living around 1996, when prosecutors say he took the name of the Ohio boy.
The father and sister of Jason Robert Evers, meanwhile, are awaiting a hearing next week in Ohio on a parole request by Adrian Williams, who was convicted as a teenager of killing Jason in the summer of 1982 during a botched kidnapping.
Amy Evers, who was only 6 when her brother was killed, said Thursday evening in a phone interview from Ohio that she learned Krasev had been identified from reporters.
"It makes me happy that there's a name to go with the face," she said. "He can't use my brother's name anymore."
Amy Evers said she is preparing to move and went through old yearbooks and photos while packing, but did not see anybody resembling Krasev. She said she still wonders if he may have lived in the Cincinnati area at some point.
Krasev was arrested as part of a program called "Operation Death Match" that the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service began in 2005 to compare passport applications with death certificates.
Krasev also faces identity fraud charges in Hamilton County, Ohio.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacie Beckerman filed a motion in federal court Thursday identifying the man as Doitchin Krasev.
Beckerman said she could not release any other details.
The man claimed to be Jason Robert Evers, a boy who was kidnapped and killed in Cincinnati in 1982 at age 3. Another man was convicted of the murder and sent to prison.
Krasev was arrested in Idaho in April and charged with making a false statement on a passport application.
While using the name Evers, he worked as an investigator for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission since 2002. He resigned last week while awaiting a hearing in U.S. District Court in Portland on whether he would be released to home detention in Bend with electronic monitoring. A judge approved his release, but that decision was appealed and Krasev remains in custody.
His former co-workers, friends and a woman identified in court only as his fiancee have attended a series of hearings in Portland following his extradition from Idaho.
Those who have been willing to comment have said he was a respected investigator and well-liked, although he was vague about his past.
Krasev is believed to have spent some time in Colorado before moving to Oregon, apparently to be close to a woman his attorney has called a surrogate grandmother.
A U.S. State Department bulletin issued last week suggested he may have been from New Jersey or the Washington, D.C., area, grew up in a foster home, was a master chess player, spoke "street" Spanish and vanished from wherever he'd be living around 1996, when prosecutors say he took the name of the Ohio boy.
The father and sister of Jason Robert Evers, meanwhile, are awaiting a hearing next week in Ohio on a parole request by Adrian Williams, who was convicted as a teenager of killing Jason in the summer of 1982 during a botched kidnapping.
Amy Evers, who was only 6 when her brother was killed, said Thursday evening in a phone interview from Ohio that she learned Krasev had been identified from reporters.
"It makes me happy that there's a name to go with the face," she said. "He can't use my brother's name anymore."
Amy Evers said she is preparing to move and went through old yearbooks and photos while packing, but did not see anybody resembling Krasev. She said she still wonders if he may have lived in the Cincinnati area at some point.
Krasev was arrested as part of a program called "Operation Death Match" that the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service began in 2005 to compare passport applications with death certificates.
Krasev also faces identity fraud charges in Hamilton County, Ohio.
