The five people killed in a devastating Oregon murder-suicide are being remembered by grieving relatives as creative, compassionate and deeply connected to animals and the natural world, even as authorities continue searching for answers about why they were targeted.
Mary Elizabeth Kimsey, 85, her daughter Rowan Karla Kimsey, 60, her granddaughter Stella Jade Kimsey, 26, Stella’s close friend Linsey Mae Haraldsen, 26, and Haraldsen’s partner, Alvin Raymond Chu, 27, were discovered dead early Saturday at a rural property near Forest Grove.
Investigators believe Stella’s boyfriend, 36-year-old Benjamin Charles Parker, killed the group before traveling to Washington state. He was found dead the next day from what authorities described as an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Before his death, Parker allegedly told his mother he had planned the attack and initially intended to kill three people. According to authorities, two additional victims arrived at the property and were also killed.
What he did not provide, investigators said, was a motive — leaving the families of the victims struggling to make sense of an act of violence they say feels impossible to understand.
‘Our family is still trying to even come to terms with what has happened, and there are a lot of feelings of various kinds, predominantly profound loss and sadness,’ Stella’s sister Alexis Callen told The Oregonian.
The killings erased three generations of one family in a single morning.
Mary, the eldest of the victims, was described by loved ones as the family’s cherished “matriarch” — a spiritual, caring woman with a deep concern for others and for the environment.
Mary Elizabeth Kimsey, 85, was the beloved matriarch of the Kimsey family and was remembered as a caring, deeply spiritual woman
Mother and daughter Rowan and Stella Kimsey lived on the rural Forest Grove property where their bodies and those of three loved ones were discovered
Linsey Mae Haraldsen, 26, was Stella’s best friend and was considered part of the Kimsey family after the pair spent years virtually inseparable
‘Mary was the matriarch of our wide and close knit family,’ relatives said.
‘She was a caring person to her family and her community. She was also a spiritual person who was an activist for people, nature and the earth.’
Her daughter Rowan was a talented artist who worked in both tattooing and traditional mediums and taught her skills to aspiring artists across the Pacific Northwest.
The family described her as ‘an incredibly talented and dedicated artist, traditional and tattoo,’ who ‘had a delightfully sharp wit and loved every new adventure.’
Stella, meanwhile, had found happiness living on the rural property alongside her mother.
She ‘was incredibly passionate and fiercely loving,’ Callen said.
‘Farm life was what she was born to do and she was never happier than when she was living out on the land,’ relatives added.
Haraldsen was Stella’s best friend but had become so close to the Kimseys that she was considered part of their family.
Rowan Karla Kimsey, 60, was a talented tattooist and artist who helped teach and inspire other artists across the Pacific Northwest
Stella Jade Kimsey, 26, was described by her family as ‘incredibly passionate and fiercely loving’ and happiest living and working on the land
Deputies had been called to the scene after firefighters found the bodies while responding to a vehicle fire at the property
‘She was sweet and funny and she was the kind of friend to Stella and others that everyone deserves to have,’ Callen said.
Haraldsen’s relatives remembered her as a creative and colorful young woman.
‘Linsey was a beloved cousin, niece, sister, daughter and friend,’ they said.
‘She loved art and did mosaics with her mother. She had the best outfits – she was always wearing extravagant colors and patterns. She was full of life, and she will be dearly missed.’
Callen said she did not know Chu as well but added: ‘He must have been a very special person for Linsey to have loved him.’
Investigators believe the horrifying sequence of events began after Stella and Parker had a ‘horrible fight’ sometime Thursday night or early Friday.
Authorities said Mary later told an out-of-state friend that Stella had ordered Parker to leave.
Haraldsen was speaking with Stella on the phone when the call suddenly disconnected. Unable to reach her again, she called Rowan, who said she would check on her daughter, but Rowan never called back.
Haraldsen then traveled to the property herself.
When Mary could not reach any of the three women, she told her friend she would collect Chu and drive there too.
Linsey’s family remembered her love of art, extravagant colorful outfits and described her as being ‘full of life’
Rowan’s family remembered her for her ‘delightfully sharp wit,’ creativity and enthusiasm for new adventures
Investigators now believe Parker killed Stella first, then Rowan when she came to check on her daughter.
They believe Haraldsen was killed when she arrived looking for them, followed by Mary and Chu.
Mary, Rowan, Stella and Haraldsen were each shot multiple times, investigators said, while authorities believe Chu was killed in the same manner.
The massacre was only discovered after a neighbor spotted a fire shortly after 5am Saturday.
Firefighters arrived to find a vehicle engulfed in flames and soon discovered two bodies, prompting them to retreat and summon law enforcement.
‘We do have a deceased victim here. We are going to need law enforcement,’ one firefighter said in dispatch audio obtained by KATU.
Deputies ultimately found all five victims in or around the driveway.
Chu was inside the burning vehicle, while Mary was found outside it. Stella was inside another car, Haraldsen was nearby and Rowan was found on a walkway close to the home.
Authorities allege Parker attempted to burn other bodies and tried unsuccessfully to set fire to the main house and a carport.
The killings also extended to the family’s animals.
Washington County Sheriff Caprice Massey urged anyone with information to come forward
Law enforcement vehicles were seen lining the gravel road near the Forest Grove home where the bodies were found on Sunday
Investigators said two dogs and two cats were shot dead, while another badly injured cat later had to be euthanized. Surviving livestock were rehomed.
‘They all adored animals, being out in nature and above all each other and their family,’ the Kimseys said.
Investigators managed to track Parker through cellphone records.
His phone left the property at 4:42am on Saturday and was switched off about half an hour later.
It resurfaced that evening near Enumclaw, Washington, where investigators say Parker called his mother.
During that conversation, he confessed to the killings, admitted shooting the animals and attempting to burn the property, and said the crime had been premeditated.
He told his mother he planned to kill himself rather than face the consequences.
On Sunday afternoon, police found the Toyota Tacoma Parker was driving in Enumclaw.
Parker was dead inside from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Stella Jade Kimsey, 26, had lived at the main property with Parker, while her mother lived in a cabin down the hill
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
Investigators recovered a .22-caliber handgun they believe was used in the killings.
His death means the families may never get the full explanation they desperately want.
‘Although we will not have the opportunity to hold the suspect accountable through the criminal justice process, we remain committed to providing Mary, Rowan, Stella, Linsey and Alvin’s families with a thorough investigation to provide them with any answers we can possibly learn,’ Detective Mark Povolny said.
Amid her grief, Callen also issued an extraordinary plea for compassion toward Parker’s family.
‘I am holding them very close in my heart, and I know that they are struggling with an unimaginable loss and trying to come to terms with something no one should ever have had to know about someone that they loved,’ she said.
She believes her sister, mother and grandmother would have wanted the same response.
‘They would want people to be, to be kind and respectful to his family,’ Callen said, ‘and they would want me to say that.’
