A rural Oregon property became the scene of a devastating five-person homicide after authorities say a man killed his girlfriend, members of her family, two friends and several of her pets.
Benjamin Charles Parker, 36, is accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend, 26-year-old Stella Jade Kimsey, at the Forest Grove home where they lived early Saturday. Also killed were Stella’s mother, Rowan Karla Kimsey, 60, and her grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Kimsey, 85, of Portland.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that two more victims were found at the property: Stella’s best friend, Linsey Mae Haraldsen, 26, of Portland, and Haraldsen’s partner, Alvin Raymond Chu, 27, also of Portland.
Responding deputies also found two cats and two dogs dead at the scene. Officials said another cat, badly injured in the attack, was later euthanized by a veterinarian.
Parker was later discovered dead inside a vehicle several miles away in Enumclaw, Washington. Investigators said he appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities said Parker quickly emerged as a suspect after deputies found the five victims at 47350 Northwest Otis Lane, the Forest Grove address he shared with Kimsey.
Investigators then used cellphone tracking and found Parker’s phone had pinged multiple times in Enumclaw, roughly three hours from the Oregon crime scene, KATU reports.
Deputies also ran the license plate of one of the victims’ stolen vehicles through the Flock camera system. The search showed Parker had entered Enumclaw five times, but there was no record of him leaving.
Five victims were found dead at a rural property near Forest Grove, Oregon on Saturday morning
The suspect, Benjamin Charles Parker, 36, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in one of the victim’s stolen vehicles in Enumclaw, Washington
Police noted he had a gun still in his hand when they found him, but there were no other weapons inside the vehicle
At that point, deputies got in contact with police in Enumclaw, who found Parker dead of a gunshot wound with a gun still in his hand in the car parked behind a grocery store.
Enumclaw police said there were no other weapons found in the car, but evidence had been sent back to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon for investigation.
It now remains unclear why Parker may have killed his girlfriend, her family, her friends and her pets – and whether he had set a vehicle on fire at the property before fleeing the scene.
Firefighters from the Forest Grove Fire Department had been the first to stumble upon the bodies when they responded to a vehicle fire at the rural home early Saturday morning, alerting deputies about the horrific scene at 5.27am.
‘We do have a deceased victim here. We are going to need law enforcement,’ one firefighter could be heard saying in dispatch audio obtained by KATU.
In a second transmission, another firefighter could be heard saying, ‘We need a police unit or a sheriff’s office unit code 3 at the scene. Just in case, we have two victims.’
A third transmission added, ‘This is some suspicious circumstances certainly. So we’re going to take our hoses and get out of here and let the sheriff’s office clear this.’
Stella Jade Kimsey, 26, had lived at the main property with Parker, and her mother lived in a cabin down the hill
Law enforcement vehicles were seen lining the gravel road near the Forest Grove home where the bodies were found
By 10.30am on Sunday, Devin Allys, 27, Stella’s ex, said he received a call from a deputy telling him they were concerned about Stella, whom he had dated for just over four years.
The deputy then asked Allys who lived on the Otis Lane property, what kind of cars they owned, whether Stella worked, how long ago he lived there and the names of Stella’s mother and grandmother, he recounted to The Oregonian.
Allys noted he had broken up with Stella about three years ago, but when they were together they lived in the main house on the rural property while her mother lived in a cabin down the hill. Her father had died several years prior, Allys said.
He also told detectives how there were sheep, chickens and goats on the property when he lived there.
Worried about the phone call, Allys said he tried to reach Stella’s mother and grandmother on Sunday morning but wasn’t able to get through to either.
Mary Elizabeth’s neighbors in Portland now remember her as a ‘lovely woman,’ telling KOIN how she was a retired school teacher and loved to garden.
The unidentified neighbor said she hadn’t seen Mary Elizabeth in days, but did not worry about her disappearance at the time.
‘I hadn’t thought about it until the police showed up on my door,’ the neighbor said.
Washington County Sheriff Caprice Massey said that in her ’22 years here, I have not been a part of or witnessed a scene quite this complex involving this type of an investigation’
It had taken deputies more than 24 hours after finding the bodies to release any information to the public.
At a news conference on Sunday, Detective Shannon Wilde cited the complexity of the investigation and the large crime scene for the delay.
Sheriff Caprice Massey also said that in her ’22 years here, I have not been a part of or witnessed a scene quite this complex involving this type of an investigation.’
‘I recognize that this incident is deeply concerning to our community,’ the sheriff continued. ‘Our investigators are working to determine what happened, and we have dedicated every available resource to this case.’
The investigation is now being led by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Detective Unit, with support from Washington County Major Crimes Team, an inter-agency group of detectives from law enforcement agencies across the county.
Oregon state forensics teams, K9 units and county animal services are also processing the highly vegetated property.
All livestock at the property have since been rehomed.
