Selma man pleads guilty to murder in bar stabbing - Gate House

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2015-07-12

Document text

By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier November 07. 2014 6:05PM Selma man pleads guilty to murder in bar stabbing A Selma man accused of fatally stabbing another man at a Grants Pass bar in March pleaded guilty to murder on Thursday afternoon, according to the Josephine County District Attorney's Office. Britt J. Bones, 40, attacked 25-year-old Mike McCoy the night of March 22 at the now-defunct Red Rock Lounge. Police said the attack occurred around 11:30 p.m., but have released few details about what happened. McCoy died two days later of a stab wound to the head. McCoy was a shovel operator at the Swanson sawmill in Glendale. His family members, including twin brother Nick, have regularly attended Bones' court appearances. McCoy's daughter, Emily Rose, was born the week after he was killed. The family was not immediately available for comment. Bones entered his plea after a closed-door settlement conference that lasted a day and a half, Josephine County Deputy District Attorney Matt Corey said. Bones now faces a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison under Oregon's Measure 11 mandatory sentencing law. Bones had been charged with murder, attempted aggravated murder, attempted first-degree assault and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon for the killing. According to the charging document, the attempted aggravated murder charge stemmed from an attack on a second man at the bar that night. Bones' criminal history includes a 2012 drug-trafficking arrest in Nebraska that stemmed from a traffic stop in which authorities found 39 pounds of marijuana. Bones also served federal prison time after being convicted in 2003 of being a felon in possession of a firearm. At the time of the Red Rock stabbing, Bones was wanted on a Josephine County warrant stemming from a 2008 DUII and reckless-driving case. Sentencing in the Red Rock Lounge murder case is scheduled for Jan. 12. The owners of the problem-plagued Red Rock Lounge, which was the site of a number of fights and disturbances, voluntarily surrendered the bar's liquor license in April. The business was located adjacent to the equally shuttered Royal Vue motel on Northeast Morgan Lane, near the north Interstate 5 freeway interchange. The Red Rock stabbing was the first of three homicides being investigated in Josephine County this year, including a killing at a Sunny Valley campsite in April and a shooting outside Cave Junction in August. Arrests have been made in both of those cases. That list does not include the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Daniel Diaz by Grants Pass police last month, which prosecutors have determined was justifiable. Reach Daily Courier reporter Melissa McRobbie at 541-474-3806 or [email protected] http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141107/NEWS/141109696 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->