An Oregon postal worker who was stabbed to death while off duty is the subject of accusations against two suspects.
Accused of first-degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, obstructing prosecution, and interfering with filing a complaint, Samantha Christensen, 48, surrendered herself to the Clackamas County Jail on Wednesday, according to court filings. She has a $250,000 bail amount.
In connection with the stabbing death of 43-year-old postal worker Tristan Thomas on October 3, Christensen and her cousin, 52-year-old Chad Michael Westover, are being charged. Westover was first charged with first-degree assault, but after Thomas passed away, the charges were enhanced, according to KPTV.
After receiving no treatment at a local hospital, Thomas called the police just before 8 p.m. to inform them that he was going home. He wanted to be sure the neighbor would be taken into custody, but at the time, there wasn’t enough evidence for the authorities to do so.
After a little over an hour, Thomas called the police once more to report a welfare check at the neighbor’s apartment. He claimed to have heard a child yelling and thought he heard the father slap the youngster. There was no sign of an ongoing disturbance when the police arrived.
Thomas then contacted 911 once more at approximately 11:20 p.m. to say that the neighbor, his friends Christensen and Westover, and the neighbor’s 16-year-old daughter were confronting him.
The 911 call contained the first sounds of the attack.
Thomas was charged by the organization with stalking the daughter. According to court documents, Christensen told police that the neighbor was at her house with Westover for a party when his daughter called to report that a strange man had been following her.
Based on the previous encounter, the neighbor thought the man was Thomas, so the gang went to the apartments and confronted the victim.
According to court filings, the neighbor’s cellphone video captures a portion of the exchange, while another apartment resident’s cellphone footage captures Westover telling Christensen and the neighbor, “If you guys are done filming, I’ll take care of it,” without Thomas in sight.
Christensen reported to the police that Thomas was carrying a big kitchen knife.
According to court documents, Westover claimed in a subsequent phone conversation with Christensen and the neighbor that Thomas had stabbed him in the face and again in the side while he attempted a “double-leg” takedown. Pictures of Westover’s stab wounds are included in court records.
The same resident also recorded audio of the attack, which shows Thomas yelling for assistance. Westover hears the neighbor saying, “Chad, let him go, let him go.”
Westover then left the victim in a pool of blood and fled the scene with Christensen after being instructed over and over again to get off Thomas.
According to the police, Christensen also stole Thomas’ phone. She informed operators that everything was OK when 911 came back from the dropped call during the attack, despite the fact that Thomas could be heard in the background calling for assistance.
Thomas had many stab wounds to his neck, face, and shoulder when responding officers arrived. Two weeks after the incident, on October 3, he passed away after being taken to the hospital and left in a coma.
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Thomas was a postal worker who was off duty at the time of the incident, according to confirmation from the USPS.
The victim’s close relative Brandon Thomas said that although the past two weeks have been challenging, the community’s support has enabled the family to cope with this unimaginable sorrow.
“Absolute strangers have been reaching out to me with various messages,” he stated. “I’m not even sure how they got my phone number. I get a text and all these wonderful things about my cousin, and it’s nice to hear. That’s what’s getting me through right now.”
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