April 25, 2022 3:50 a.m.
Governor Kate Brown recently granted clemency to a man convicted in a Douglas County murder case and officials say he is now living in Salem with GPS monitoring.
On Friday, Marion County Sheriff Joe Kast and District Attorney Paige Clarkson issued a Public Safety Notice saying they have significant safety concerns surrounding what they call “…the sudden and ill-planned Governor’s commutation of convicted Aggravated Murderer from Douglas County, Kyle Hedquist, 45 years old, into the Salem Community”.
Hedquist was convicted of the aggravated murder of a teenage foster child, Nikki Thrasher, in 1995. Background information provided by the officials said following the burglary of his aunt’s home, Hedquist possessed numerous stolen items and hid them in the home of a co-defendant. While visiting that residence, Thrasher asked about the property, having no knowledge they were the evidence of the prior crime. In a pre-meditated plan to protect himself from possible reports to law enforcement, Hedquist tricked the victim into driving him to a rural area near Melrose where he shot her execution-style in the back of the head and dumped her body along the road. Hedquist admitted killing her to eliminate a witness in hope of preventing his own capture.
The notice said despite those facts and over the objection of Douglas County District Attorney Rick Wesenberg whose office originally handled the prosecution, Brown granted clemency to Hedquist, thereby granting his release. In March, Marion County Community Corrections was notified by the Department of Corrections that Hedquist, who was housed at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, was seeking release into Marion County due to “community concerns” related to any Douglas County residence.
Despite a series of objections from Community Corrections officials, the Parole Board notified county officials on April 15th that Hedquist would be released to a south Salem address. The release took place at 12:00 p.m. that day.
Hedquist is now living with a former prison chaplain and has been provided with standard conditions of supervision.
The Public Safety Notice and the objection letter is linked with this story. https://flashalert.net/id/MCDA/153999#:~:text=%5B4%5D%20Despite%20Community%20Corrections%20safety,provided%20by%20the%20Governor’s%20office.
Brown’s move to grant Hedquist clemency is one of a series of similar decisions she has made since the passage of Senate Bill 1008 by the Oregon State Legislature in 2019. That changes aspects of how youth who commit crimes are sentenced.