Exceptional sentence sought in Lincoln County shooting

DAVENPORT, Lincoln County — Lincoln County prosecutors say they'll seek an exceptional sentence against a 64-year-old truck driver convicted in the fatal shooting and dismemberment of a state tax auditor.

A jury convicted Ralph Benson of first-degree murder in the slaying of Roger Erdman last week. The standard sentencing range for first-degree murder is 20 to 32 years.

Special prosecutor Clark Colwell declined to say how much longer of a sentence his office would seek against Benson, but said Benson deserves to be locked up longer because he has shown no remorse.

Lincoln County Superior Court Judge Philip Borst scheduled sentencing for Dec. 11. Erdman, 56, a Spokane-based employee of the Department of Licensing, disappeared June 12, 2002, after going to Benson's home in an abandoned missile site south of Davenport to conduct a fuel-tax audit. Erdman's dismembered body, with a bullet wound to the back of the head, was found 10 days later south of Cheney.

The state accused Benson of killing Erdman after the auditor went to his home to examine gasoline-tax records. Colwell said Benson was in a financial crunch and owed $6,000 in taxes.

Lincoln County Superior Court Judge Philip Borst scheduled sentencing for Dec. 11.

Sex offender moved from tent to motel after getting sick

ALBANY, Ore. — A sheriff's policy of housing a paroled sex offender in a tent ended with the man hospitalized for pneumonia after a cold snap this month.

Linn County Sheriff Dave Burright moved Bruce Erbs, who is also a convicted arsonist, to a $155-a-week motel on Wednesday after Erbs spent eight days in a hospital. Erbs had lived in the tent in a yard behind the jail since he was released from a prison sentence in July.

He was among several Oregon parolees in two counties told to camp rather than given transitional housing, in what officials described as an economical solution that didn't pamper ex-cons.

Erbs' tent cost the county $45. He used a portable toilet and showered at a nearby homeless shelter. In his case, finding transitional housing had been complicated by concerns landlords would be unable to find fire insurance to house an arsonist, Burright said. The county is still looking for permanent quarters, he said.

Search intensifies for teen who disappeared with man

MOLALLA, Ore. — The search for a missing Gresham teenager intensified this weekend as police and dozens of volunteers searched 10 acres of open space near the Molalla Public Library where the girl was last seen.

The Saturday search turned up no new clues in the disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Lee Lamb, whose vanishing has baffled investigators, Molalla Officer Scott Cumiford said.

Cumiford said police did not receive any information that led them to search the area. Its proximity to the library and the apartment complex where Lamb's mother, Bonnie Todd, lives made it a logical place to check, he said. Police say she left the library on Oct. 30 with a man who appeared to be in his 20s. He wore blue jeans and a pullover and had short, spiky hair and a goatee.

What police know is that Cynthia spent hours online chatting with dozens of people, most of them young men. Cynthia is white, has brown hair and blue eyes and is 5-foot-2 and weighs 120 pounds. She was last seen wearing tan jeans, a black sleeveless shirt embroidered with "Tokyo" and a zip-up sweat shirt that possibly was black.

Oregon man sentenced to 9 years in crime spree

McMINNVILLE, Ore. — A Yamhill County man was sentenced to almost nine years in prison for what the judge described as one of the worst crime sprees he'd seen in years.

Jacob Danek, 22, stole vehicles off dealership lots, forged license plates with printing equipment he stole using false billing invoices, grew marijuana and led police on several high-speed chases and tried to run over one officer. Danek and a girlfriend also embezzled about $13,000 from a McMinnville retirement community.

Information from Times staff and news services.