COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) — A 50-year-old Coos County man told investigators at the scene of a fatal shooting near Bandon, Ore., that he aimed and fired a double-barreled derringer at a computer Kelly Twiggs was using. However, deputies found the 44-year-old woman dead last Saturday night.
Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier has charged Joseph Miller Lankford with murder. Judge Richard Barron set bail at $2 million Monday and appointed the public defender’s office to represent Lankford.
In court papers, Deputy Adam Slater says the man and woman had returned home after a family reunion. The deputy says Lankford told authorities he drank some alcohol and Twiggs began a discussion of his behavior at the reunion.
Lankford identified Twiggs as his ex-girlfriend in a 911 call. The district attorney says her children say the couple had been married for about 15 years at the time of her death.
