Thread: Sex-abuse charges added in slaying of girl, 15

Sex-abuse charges added in slaying of girl, 15
Posted by twolfe August 14, 2007 16:14PM

A Clackamas County grand jury has added attempted rape and attempted sex-abuse charges to the case against two men accused of aggravated murder in the July 28 death of 15-year-old Dani Countryman.

The Kaufman, Texas, girl was vacationing in Oregon when she was strangled after an all-night party with her sister and about 20 other people at an apartment complex in Milwaukie.

Alejandro Emeterio Rivera Gamboa, 24, of Clackamas and his cousin, Gilberto Javier Arellano Gamboa, 23, of Milwaukie faced preliminary aggravated murder charges Aug. 7 in Clackamas County Circuit Court. In the days that followed, a grand jury heard testimony from investigators and witnesses who attended the party that ended in Countryman's death.

The men appeared this afternoon before Judge Ronald Thom in Clackamas County Circuit Court by videoconference from the Clackamas County Jail, where they are held without bail. A Spanish-language interpreter relayed the updated set of charges against them: six counts of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, and one count each of attempted first-degree rape and attempted sex abuse.

The particular circumstances of the case -- multiple allegations of felony crimes associated with Countrymans death -- made the men eligible for multiple charges of aggravated murder, according to deputy district attorney Chris Owen.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews ... _slay.html

This article DOES NOT MENTION THEY WERE ILLEGALS! I read it three times. Did I miss something?

We need volunteers to immediately make posts beneath this article and contact the author to complain that he or she omitted the FACT that BOTH suspects are illegal aliens from this report.

Who can we count on to help us with both these needed actions?

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

This article DOES NOT MENTION THEY WERE ILLEGALS! I read it three times. Did I miss something?

We need volunteers to immediately make posts beneath this article and contact the author to complain that he or she omitted the FACT that BOTH suspects are illegal aliens from this report.

Who can we count on to help us with both these needed actions?

W

I'll post a note just as soon as I get signed up for an account. Why are so many refusing to make mention that they are illegal aliens??

I am on it!

Done.

Though, my comment on the article is being 'held for approval'.

Done. Comment held for moderation. As, evidently, all other comments have been since there are 0 comments at this time.

I just found this.

Suspect in killing eligible for deportation
Posted by The Oregonian August 15, 2007 22:45PM
Categories: Top Stories

Authorities had clear reason to suspect Alejandro Emeterio Rivera Gamboa was in the United States illegally nine months before he was accused of murdering 15-year-old Dani Countryman.

On Nov. 13, 2006, Rivera Gamboa pleaded guilty to two counts of drunken driving. He also disclosed that he was not a U.S. citizen and signed a plea agreement that read, in part: "I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States, a criminal conviction could cause me to be deported, denied United States citizenship, or refused the right to re-enter the United States."

The document is the first direct evidence that authorities missed an opportunity to expel Rivera Gamboa before he allegedly strangled Countryman at a Milwaukie apartment complex. Rivera Gamboa was later released from custody without anyone in the criminal justice system notifying immigration authorities, as is common in the flood of misdemeanor cases that come through the system in the Portland area.

Countryman was vacationing in Oregon when she was strangled after an all-night party July 27-28 with her sister and about 20 other people at an apartment complex in Milwaukie.

Suspect in Ore. killing disclosed he was not citizen last year
8/16/2007, 12:31 a.m. PT
The Associated Press


OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — Less than nine months before he allegedly killed a 15-year-old girl by stepping on her throat until she stopped breathing, Alejandro Rivera Gamboa pleaded guilty to drunken driving and disclosed that he was not a U.S. citizen.

Rivera Gamboa, 24, signed a plea agreement that read, in part: "I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States, a criminal conviction could cause me to be deported, denied United States citizenship, or refused the right to re-enter the United States."

The document, obtained by The Oregonian newspaper, provides evidence that authorities had reason to suspect that Rivera Gamboa was in the U.S. illegally. But Rivera Gamboa was released without anyone notifying immigration authorities.

He and his cousin, Gilberto Javier Arellano Gamboa, are charged with aggravated murder in the death of Dani Countryman, a Texas girl strangled during a visit to Oregon late last month. The two also face charges of attempted rape and attempted sex-abuse.

Arellano Gamboa is also in the country illegally, but does not have a previous criminal record.

Oregon law prohibits local police from actively searching out illegal immigrants, but the rules change when foreigners land in jail. If local authorities find reason to believe the person is deportable, they may notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But Mark Rasmussen, Clackamas County's top probation official, said his agency hasn't been referring misdemeanor offenders to immigration officials because they seem uninterested in low-level criminals.

"Our experience is that (ICE) doesn't do anything unless it's a felony and even then, it just depends," Rasmussen said.

Countryman's death, however, has some Oregon prosecutors taking another look at the way they handle suspects with questionable immigration status.

"There's been more illegal immigration and more illegal immigrants connected to crime," said Norm Frink, chief deputy district attorney in Multnomah County. "We're going to look at it and figure out if there's a different approach we could take."

In Clackamas County, where Countryman died, District Attorney John Foote said his prosecutors check immigration status on a case by case basis. He did not know how often such checks are done or how often federal authorities are notified, but said he is reassessing his office's policies and plans to have new guidelines in place this fall.

Lorie Dankers, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, said the agency's policy is to respond to calls from local law enforcement. Dankers said the immigration agency recently assigned agents to check jail rosters in southern Oregon and will eventually do routine checks in all of the state's county jails.

http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/reg ... st=orlocal