07 October 2023 , 15:28
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A man has been convicted of murdering his three neighbours after days without sleeping during a meth binge.
A jury ruled that Portland, Oregon, man Brett Pruett, 61, shot dead Tashia Cobb and her fiance Elmer Hughes outside their home and then killed their friend Lawrence Murphy inside. Police were called to the scene and found the three bodies on July 17, 2020.
Pruett was arrested the following day. It later emerged that he lived in a house next to the home where the three victims lived, Senior Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told the Multnomah County jury. He said Pruett had been taking care of Betty Boyles, who owned both of the houses.
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When Boyles died that April, Pruett tried to take ownership of her property and demanded rent from the three neighbours, the prosecutor said. Despite an eviction lawsuit against him, Pruett continued to insist on rent payments.
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He went on to shoot the victims after days without sleep during a methamphetamine binge, Vasquez told the jury.
Pruett was found guilty of first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, burglary and assault, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release
The defence worked to undermine the credibility of witnesses and argued that police too quickly settled on Pruett as the suspect. Pruett’s attorneys also asked the judge to declare a mistrial, arguing that prosecutors had withheld information that would have been critical for the defence team to know in formulating their strategy.
Pruett is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
In the average year, around 509 people die by guns in Oregon. With a rate of 11.7 deaths per 100,000 people, the state has the 31st highest rate of gun deaths in the US. In Oregon, 82 per cent of gun deaths are suicides and 14 per cent are homicides. This is compared to 61 per cent and 36 per cent respectively, nationwide.