Second suspect arrested in Selma double homicide – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2021-05-06

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Second suspect arrested in Selma double homicide By Nick Morgan Updated: May 06, 2021 01:14 PM A A Harley Edward Boitz, left, and Michael Lawrence Moehring are each held in the Josephine County Jail on murder and arson charges surrounding a double homicide near Selma. Josephine County Jail booking photos. A Cave Junction man is the second suspect charged in the murders of two men whose bodies were found in a burned vehicle near Selma earlier this spring. Michael Lawrence Moehring, 42, of Happy Camp, California, is held in the Josephine County Jail on murder and arson charges accusing him of playing a role alongside co-suspect Harley Edward Boitz, 26, in the shooting deaths of 24-year-old Daniel Thomas Hill and 26-year-old Paul Martin Folk, and attempting to dispose of their bodies in a burning vehicle on March 24. Oregon State Police SWAT, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and Eugene police officers arrested Moehring Monday morning at a Linn County rest area, according to a release issued by Oregon State Police, and was transferred to the Josephine County Jail Tuesday. Moehring made his initial court appearance Wednesday in Josephine County Circuit Court, where he was ordered held without bail, records show. Police have released few details about Moehring and Boitz’ alleged roles in the homicide, but each suspect faces two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree abuse of a corpse in the homicide case and at least one arson charge in the fire. First-responders found Hill and Folk’s bodies in the wreckage of a van after the vehicle was spotted burning on a forest road roughly six miles from McMullen Creek Road at about 12:50 p.m. March 24, according to earlier news reports. At midnight, a police shooting occurred at a nearby staging area on a fork of the logging road near Kerby Mainline Road. Josephine County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jim Geiger was later justified for shooting at a small truck near the police staging area that did not obey police commands and rapidly backed up before fleeing the scene. Geiger fired five rounds at the vehicle and dived into a ditch to avoid being run over, and the vehicle got away. Boitz was arrested a week later during a traffic stop in Cave Junction, and he remains an inmate held in the Josephine County Jail held on similar murder, corpse abuse and arson charges in Hill and Folk’s deaths. Trial dates have not been set in either suspect’s cases, court records show, and both suspects are held in jail without bail. Boitz’ next hearing is scheduled for May 10 and Moehring’s next appearance is set for May 12. Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MTCrimeBeat.