Document text
45 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 24, 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 11, 2004 Christopher York Coffin Jury finds homeless man guilty in slaying By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune A homeless man is not guilty of murdering the "mayor" of Hawthorne Park, but he will go to prison for manslaughter. Jurors found Friday that 52-year-old Christopher York Coffin acted recklessly when he stabbed 50-year-old Gary Washebek and 34-year-old Michael McKercher last year. McKercher survived the Dec. 1 attack while Washebek bled to death. All three men had been drinking beer in the park that day. Coffin will be sentenced Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court on a charge of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of first-degree assault. He faces a minimum sentence of seven and a half years in prison. Jurors were unanimous in finding Coffin guilty after four days of testimony before Judge Ray White. "This case just isn’t about a couple of drunks fighting in the park," said Karen Loomis, deputy district attorney for Jackson County, in her closing statement. Advertisement "It’s about all of us being able to feel safe in our parks." The jurors’ decision showed they did not believe the theory of self-defense presented by Coffin’s attorneys, Loomis said. The prosecutor told jurors in the trial’s closing that self-defense does not apply if Coffin was the initial aggressor. Furthermore, he could not use a deadly weapon to defend himself from a non-deadly attack, she said. Coffin’s attorneys argued their client was beat in the head repeatedly with his 6-foot-long wooden walking stick. However, minor wounds on Coffin’s head were treated with antibiotic ointment and Band-Aids at the former Veterans Affairs domiciliary in White City, Loomis said. McKercher spent five days at Rogue Valley Medical Center recovering from numerous stab wounds, including one that punctured his lung. Washebek was found dead, slumped over a park picnic table, about an hour after the 1 p.m. fight. He most likely bled to death in several minutes from a 7-inch-long gash that severed the major artery in his lower leg, forensic pathologist Dr. James Olson testified. Washebek’s frequent fraternizing with Hawthorne Park’s homeless earned him the moniker of mayor. He reportedly had been a Medford resident for several years, living on disability payments. An eyewitness told jurors that Coffin started the fight when he shook his walking stick at the two men. McKercher said Coffin hit him with the staff, and the two fell to the ground in a wrestling match. McKercher said he was cut trying to wrest Coffin’s knife away. Coffin did not testify in his own defense. "I think it was a good judgment," McKercher said after hearing the verdict. It won’t be the first time Coffin goes to prison for manslaughter. Loomis said she can ask the sentencing judge to consider Coffin’s 1970s conviction in Illinois for shooting another man in the face with a shotgun. Prosecutors are not allowed to discuss criminal defendants’ prior felonies during trial if they were convicted more than 15 years ago. 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