NEWPORT, Ore. — An Oregon teenager is facing an aggravated murder charge and other charges in the death of a Vancouver native in Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast.
KGW-TV reports the Lincoln County district attorney’s office in Newport filed the charges Wednesday against Joseph Anthony Marsala, 17, of Milwaukie.
An autopsy showed that Darrin Masterson Dow, 49, died of blunt-force injuries but was also stabbed in the neck and the stomach with a knife, court documents said. His body was found Sunday at a house in Lincoln City.
Marsala also was accused of hiding a garden tool and knife, and stealing Dow’s luxury SUV, his wallet, credit cards and cash.
Marsala could face between 25 years to life in prison if convicted of Dow’s death, according to Oregon statutes.
Prosecutors said a defense attorney was expected to be appointed at an arraignment hearing Wednesday.
For more than five decades, Dow’s family owned Dow Columbia, a Portland-based business that cleaned Oriental rugs, and later restored buildings damaged by fire, water and mold across the region, including Clark County. Dow served as CEO prior to the family’s sale of the business in 2006.
Dow most recently served as president of Electronics Restoration in Portland. According to his Facebook page, he had owned the cleaning business since December 2007.
