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57 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 16, 2004 Man gets 14 years in park attacks Homeless vet stabbed two men in Hawthorne park altercation, a year ago, killing one, injuring the other By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune A homeless veteran convicted of stabbing to death the "mayor" of Hawthorne Park was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in prison. Christopher York Coffin, 52, will serve two consecutive sentences for assaulting 50-year-old Gary Washebek and 34-year-old Michael McKercher on Dec. 1 of 2003. Washebek bled to death from a severed artery in his lower leg; McKercher spent five days at Rogue Valley Medical Center with a punctured lung. A frequenter of the east Medford park, Washebek was known as a friend and helper to the city’s homeless population and was referred to by acquaintances as the "mayor" of the park. All three men had been drinking beer in the park before the attack. Washebek’s blood-alcohol level was five times the state’s legal limit of .08 percent at the time of his autopsy. Coffin’s blood-alcohol level was .10 percent when he was arrested approximately eight hours after the fight. After hearing three days of testimony from McKercher, police and other witnesses, jurors last week convicted Coffin of second-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault. He was acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges. Coffin did not testify in his own defense. Advertisement Prosecutor Karen Loomis argued for consecutive sentences based on Coffin’s violent past. In 1976, in Illinois, Coffin blew off the right side of a friend’s face with a shotgun, killing him, she said. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in that case. While incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail awaiting trial, Coffin secreted spoons from his meal tray that corrections officers believed could be turned into stabbing weapons, Loomis said. Jail officials recommended that he be placed in solitary confinement, she said. "He is a risk to this and every other community he is in," Loomis said. "Prisons were made for people like him." Coffin’s attorneys argued in last week’s trial that their client stabbed Washebek and McKercher in self-defense after the other two men picked a fight with him. The 1976 shooting death of Coffin’s friend was accidental, said defense attorney Andrew Vandergaw. "Every death is regrettable," Coffin said in a hoarse voice before hearing his sentence. "I only did what I had to do to defend myself." Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Ray White ordered Coffin to serve the mandatory sentence of seven years and six months in prison for each assault charge. He will serve the manslaughter sentence — six years and three months — at the same time. The year he spent in jail awaiting trial counts toward his total time served. Because the crime was a Measure 11 offense, he must serve the full sentence. Although White questioned whether Coffin would ever be able to earn an income, he ruled Coffin must pay $2,930 for Washebek’s funeral and more than $18,000 for McKercher’s medical care. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers