Court doc: Meiser's fingerprint on machete found near murder scene
PORTLAND, Ore. – Detectives named Erik John Meiser a suspect in the murder of a Lake Oswego man after finding a bloody machete in a driveway of a house near the murder scene, court documents said.
The machete had Meiser’s fingerprint on it, a detective said.
Court documents obtained by KATU News said Meiser was standing in the kitchen of Fritz Hayes' home when Hayes and his wife returned from a morning walk at around 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 17.
When Mrs. Hayes saw Meiser holding a machete in one hand and a knife in the other, she screamed and ran out a back door. She went around to the front of her house and found her husband near the driveway bleeding profusely, documents said.
Fritz Hayes died in his wife’s arms as she was one the phone with 9-1-1 dispatchers.
Officer talks with Meiser at bus stop
Less than three hours after the murder, a Lake Oswego police officer spoke with Meiser at a TriMet bus stop at Southwest 22nd Avenue and Boones Ferry Road. The officer told detectives Meiser matched the suspect description, documents said.
Meiser told the officer he was passing through the area. He appeared nervous to the officer and his clothes appeared odd, documents said.
Meiser told the officer he was heading to Portland, but he was waiting for a bus that was heading the opposite direction. It’s unclear why the officer did not detain Meiser.
"The officer involved is a witness in a criminal case," said Lake Oswego Police Captain Dale Jorgensen. "He has not yet testified before a grand jury and it would be inappropriate for any comment to be made before he testified. We're just not going to comment on an ongoing investigation."
A source familiar with the investigation told KATU News that roughly two-dozen people who matched the description were stopped that morning. About half of them told police they were passing through the area.
The source spoke on the condition on anonymity.
Meiser linked to nearby burglary
Court documents said Clackamas County detectives investigated a burglary on the same morning as the murder at a home within half a mile of the Hayes residence. Detectives believed the burglary was linked to the murder because of the location and time.
The suspect broke into a garage and removed a bicycle from an overhead car rack, but left the bike because it had flat tires, documents said. The burglary happened very early in the morning.
Detectives found a plastic bottle in the yard that the homeowner insisted was not his. A forensic examination found one of Meiser’s fingerprints on the bottle.
got your number
Hopefully our esteemed governor will allow execution of this killer, but I doubt it! I wonder what series of events will change Governor K's mind? Probably none, ever! He can't uphold the law he swore to uphold! What a shame!Â
@jpk It will take a couple of years for the courts to get their hands on him...by then, HOPEFULLY, Katslobber will be out of office (provided the dummies in this state don't re-elect him AGAIN). But by then the liberal judge will probably give him probation and 40 hours of community service!
I feel so bad for the wife.. What a horrific scene for her to go through.. Lesson here, lock your doors even when you go for a short walk with the dog.. I walk my dog only about 3 or 4 houses down and back, takes less that 5 minutes but I always lock the doors when I exit..
I wonder if this POS may be responsible for the beheading of that young man down in Ashland last year. They think that was done by machete.
@shewiz - that was initial thought as well.
Sounds like someone needs to go through Observation 101. So happy that Meiser was caught, should have been caught that day!
Oh I almost forgot !  "looked nervous". . . "Clothes looked odd" . . . (probably the blood or no UofO hoody) BIG DUH LOPD
LOPD spoke with guy "fitting" the description ? GAWD ! what next ? Waiting for bus going opposite direction of where he said he was headed ? GAWD AGAIN ! LOPD used to pull over and question people just for driving through in anything but a luxury car. Lets see . . . Murderer on foot . . . at bus stop. . . hmmmmmmmmmmm ? Oh yea ! that must have been Look for DUII suspects only day. Or "my cat got lost" day. I forget which.
Murder committed during commission of a robbery ... sounds like a good reason to give Erik Meiser the death penalty. Hopefully the DA agrees so this piece of garbage won't be able to ever hurt anyone again.