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16-year-old convicted of murder By Chris Bristol A Jackson County jury wasted no time on Trevor Walraven, deliberating barely 90 minutes Monday before convicting the 16-year-old from Wolf Creek for the 1998 carjacking and execution-style murder of retired lodge owner Bill Hull. Walraven�s face betrayed no emotion as Judge Gerald Neufeld read the verdict: guilty of three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of murder. He continued to stare straight ahead as his mother and girlfriend sobbed loudly. Walraven, 14 at the time of the murder, lost a bid to have his case heard in juvenile court. Tried as an adult, he faces a mandatory 30 years in prison before possibility of parole. A sentencing date was not set. His older brother, Josh Cain, was convicted last summer for his role in the crime and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Walraven�s case was moved to Medford because of heavy pre-trial publicity in Josephine County. A dozen Medford police stood by, bolstering court security as the verdicts were read. "Happy?" the defendant�s father, Doug Walraven, snapped at Josephine County sheriff�s Detective Fred Barbero. "Of course not," he shot back. Prosecutor Michael Newman pronounced the verdicts just. Authorities believe Walraven and Cain, then 18, ambushed the victim at random on a remote country road near Wolf Creek so they could use his late-model Chevrolet Suburban to take their girlfriends on a double date. "It�s still not in any sense a victory," Newman said. "I feel bad for Karen Cain and Doug Walraven, because their sons are going to be in prison for a long, long time. But their sons committed a horrible crime." John James, the victim�s son-in-law and unofficial family spokesman, said he felt the same way. Hull, 65, was the patriarch of a prominent local family and the longtime owner of Black Bar Lodge, popular with Rogue River rafters and anglers. "It�s tragic that two young kids are going to spend the better part of their prime in prison," James said. "I don�t feel good about that. How can you? "But I do feel good about the justice system. I guess you could call it closure." In closing arguments, Newman argued that a "stack too high" of coincidences amounted to overwhelming proof the boys killed Hull, whose badly decomposed body was found near a logging road a week after he disappeared July 26, 1998. But the key evidence was testimony from Nick Haynes, a pal of Cain�s from neighboring Glendale who said Walraven confessed the crime to him. After Hull�s disappearance, testimony showed, the boys took their girlfriends to Grants Pass, then went on a weeklong joyride in Hull�s SUV with Haynes to Reedsport and Eugene. Newman reminded the jury of Haynes� testimony, that Walraven said he shot the owner of the Suburban "on the top of the head" and that "pieces flew out." An autopsy showed that Hull was shot once in the top of the head, probably while kneeling. "This is not a boy killing another (boy) in angry response to losing a marble tournament," the prosecutor told the jury. "This murder is very much planned out... He�s the one who pulled the trigger and so coldly executed William Hull." Newman urged the jury not to let sympathy for the defendant�s mother cloud their judgment. Since the conviction of her eldest son (a fact the jury was not told) Karen Cain has become a vocal critic of Measure 11�s mandatory minimum sentences. "No mother should have to go through what she�s going through," Newman said. "But this case is not about her. It�s about William Hull." But defense attorney Pat Wolke, himself a former prosecutor, argued the state�s case was too circumstantial. He ridiculed the state�s theory that the boys meticulously plotted the crime. "If you want to get a car, why do it in your own front yard?" Wolke asked the jury. "If you want to commit a murder, why do it in your front yard?" Wolke also tried to discredit Haynes, arguing the state�s star witness testimony was self-serving, confusing and tainted by rumors and press coverage. "He�s a great presumer," Wolke told the jury. "You can�t presume my client is guilty." On rebuttal, Newman admitted the state couldn�t say for sure why the boys committed the crime. Even though the state isn�t required to prove motive, he offered the jury one anyway. "They did it for the excitement, the thrill, the adventure," he said. "And they knew they would get away with it. They fully expected to get away with it." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA