PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon’s parole board will take as much time as it needs to make “a very difficult decision” about whether to release a 40-year-old man who was convicted at 15 of raping and killing a high school classmate in Beaverton, its leader says.
The three-member board is deciding the fate of Conrad Engweiler, convicted of killing 16-year-old Erin Tonna Reynolds. It must decide whether he is a danger to society.
His case has been repeatedly before the courts over the years since because he was initially sentenced under unclear guidelines.
His lawyer, Andy Simrin, has argued that, with good-behavior time considered, he’s overdue for release. The state Supreme Court has told the board to start the prerelease process “with appropriate dispatch.”
At a hearing Tuesday, Engweiler told the board that his years in prison have taught him remorse, empathy and compassion.
Chairperson Kristin Winges-Yanez said that in his latest psychological exams, Engweiler showed signs of being anti-social, obsessive-compulsive and narcissistic. He was sometimes defensive and wanted to be in control, doctors said.
At the end of the hearing, the board declined to issue an immediate decision. Winges-Yanez didn’t set a deadline for making it. The board can set a release date or defer it. The board can consider the exams, the inmate’s plans and other factors.
At a hearing Tuesday, Engweiler recounted the crime. He said he set out only to steal Reynolds’ car and said he was angered when she wouldn’t give him the keys. He said he forced her to perform oral sex and then raped her in the back seat of the car.
Afterward, he said, “In a fit of rage, I slipped the rope around her neck and strangled her to death.”
Then, he said, he dragged her body to a pile of yard debris, and bashed her head repeatedly with a vodka bottle.
The victim’s family members have long said they want Engweiler to remain in prison and spoke again Tuesday.
“This is Erin,” said her father, Earl Reynolds, showing a photo of her.
“He murdered her,” he said, pointing at Engweiler.
Engweiler stared down. His knee bounced. He breathed deeply. His face twisted.
“If you let him out,” Reynolds said, “somebody else is going to suffer.”
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Information from: The Oregonian, https://www.oregonlive.com
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