Convicted murderer's release worries family, police
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Scott William Cox, a man convicted in 1993 of two Portland murders, was released from confinement on Friday.
His departure from prison caused a ripple of trepidation among family members of one of his victims and a police chief.
Cox was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the two women’s killings, with time off for good behavior. He was transferred to the Yamhill County Jail to live in subsidized housing.
The Newberg truck driver was a person of interest in the 1990s of about 15 murders throughout the western United States – something that concerns Joyce Jenkins, the sister of murder victim Victoria Rhone.
She’s worried Cox is going to hurt someone else.
“I think he’s become such a threat,” Jenkins said. “A lot of times they’ll say 'I found God.' Where did you find him? I didn’t know he was gone. All this he’s done now – he could have done that before he killed two people.”
While he’s staying in subsidized housing, Cox will be able to leave at 8 in the morning and not check in until 8 at night. He will be monitored throughout the day through a GPS-tracking system.
Jenkins isn’t the only person concerned about Cox’s release.
Cornelius Interim Police Chief Ken Summers, who was the lead investigator on Cox’s case, said the fact that Cox was person of interest in a number of other killings raises public safety concerns.
“I’d like to think people can change in law enforcement. We can’t afford to take that chance,” Summers said. “We’re very concerned he’s out again.”
At the time Cox was sentenced, other law enforcement agencies were pursuing murder investigations in hopes they could charge Cox before he was released. That didn’t happen because of a lack of concrete evidence.
A year after Cox’s convictions, voters approved Measure 11, which gives mandatory sentences for violent crimes without the possibility of judges reducing the punishment.
Had Cox been convicted under Measure 11, he would have faced 50 years in prison.
I have kids and grandchildren living in Newberg, it distresses me greatly that someone who has preyed on victims and killed in the past is allowed to live as a free man again. A person can do a lot of harm in the span of 12 hours a day, and this should worry anyone living in Yamhill County. How is this justice served? If he offends again, and the liklihood is great, who is going to accept responsibility for his release?
I am positive he has been rehabilitated
" Cox will be able to leave at 8 in the morning and not check in until 8 at night. He will be monitored throughout the day through a GPS-tracking system."
And that worked out so well with Mr. Storm. God help us!
Thanks to august100 for the link. Here is an excerpt:
On Nov. 24, 1990 -- a week after Tia disappeared -- Rheena Ann Brunson, a suspected prostitute with no history of arrest, was found dead in front of a Portland Safeway store. She had been handcuffed and was stabbed in the heart. On Feb. 19, 1991, the partially clad body of Victoria Rhone, who had a prostitution record, was found in a railroad car in suburban Portland. She had been strangled.
Scott William Cox, a Portland man who has family in Tacoma, was linked by DNA evidence to the Brunson and Rhone murders. He pleaded no contest in September 1993 to two counts of intentional murder, and is serving a 25-year term in Oregon.
Cox, whose long-haul driving took him across the West from Canada to Mexico and as far east as Ohio, has drawn the interest of police nationwide who were examining at least 20 similar murders of known or suspected prostitutes.Â
 http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/cox-scott-william.htm
How can this guy even BE released?? He should have gotten life, no parole.
Can we get a current photo? Seems like that would be relevant.
@starshadowYup Courtesy KPTVÂ
http://kptv.images.worldnow.com/images/21302793_BG1.jpg
Everybody should be worried and concerned about this guy breathing outside of prison walls.
Seems like many serial killers chose trucking as their profession
Are not hookers who many serial killers target?
someone will get him, see him and maybe overreact in fear then call it self defense, I would approve
Easy way to keep them in prison, make the judge AND parole board directly responsible for the criminal. If he re-offends, they stand trial right alongside him. Guaranteed these guys would never get out. They are aiding and abetting the criminal by releasing him.......
"Had Cox been convicted underMeasure 11, he would have faced 50 years in prison."
And therein lies the beauty of Measure 11. Now politicians want to get rid of it to save money.
@RalphCramden For me the biggest motivation to support measure 11 when it started was the fact that first degree rapists served an average of 18 months in jail - included in that average where guys who'd raped many times before. Â
Those guys could go through life victimizing literally dozens of women. Now with measure 11 3 is the absolute tops for a guy in an entire lifetime.
@RalphCramden A .22 from behind ends all the problems this skel has caused. One of the PPB Kruger clan died just that way - never solved...
He served his time and thats that, Get over it! As for the cops being worried well that is
their job.Â
so you're okay with him living next door to you and your family? Gee problem solved, he just needs a hug and acceptance, right?
@Saywhat? The victims families are still serving time
@Saywhat? Just like the molesters served their time so get over it?
Too bad they can't tie him to other crimes with is DNA.
If he pee'd behind a tree and someone saw him do it he'd BE TRACKED FOR LIFE & LISTED ON NATION-WIDE SEX-OFFENDER WEBSITES....but brutally murder two people & suspected in 15 other brutal murders and....NOTHING....
KATU DEEP THINKERS....LOOK AWAY FROM THE SCREEN and SAY THIS GUY'S NAME....SEE, you haven't got a clue what his name it!
All of the plea bargains sound just great until it's time to release the killers and rapers back into society. Bah!
Life is cheapest in Liberalville. What happens when he kills again?
Sorry to say it, but he apparently served the time he was sentenced to. It's just another indication that convicted murderers should either be executed, or serve the rest of their days in prison! Period! None of this rehabilitation effort leading to reintegration into society; the same society's laws he/she didn't think necessary to abide by. And this has nothing to do with any morality assessments, it's just that an eye for an eye has been the golden rule for thousands of years. What possible positive benefit to society can there be to letting this killer out? None! All it will do is cause time, money and effort to keep track of him by agencies that don't have the time, budget, and resources to keep track of him and his activities!
And just think, no registry to let people know a murderer is going to be moving into your neighborhood.
@therandomroger Too much money being spent on men who pee'd behind trees....
How about a picture? Â
@PortlandCourtesy KPTVÂ
http://kptv.images.worldnow.com/images/21302793_BG1.jpg
@Portland Kptv has current pics. They broke the story early this morning.
Does anybody know the stories behind these murders? I have not seen the specifics of what happened.Â
Very scary knowing that killers like this can walk among us.Â
@WhenCowsAttack http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/cox-scott-william.htm