PORTLAND (AP) — A man convicted of shooting at Los Angeles police officers in late 2014 has pleaded guilty to killing an Oregon heavy truck weighmaster months before the California shootout.
Dirck White on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murder in the February 2014 the death of 47-year-old Grady Waxenfelter, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
White, 44, fatally shot the Clackamas County assistant weighmaster during a traffic stop near the community of Boring near Portland, according to court documents. Waxenfelter saw White hauling a trailer without a license plate on a state highway.
Waxenfelter, whose duties included issuing traffic citations, pulled White over. During the stop, White shot Waxenfelter three times and drove off, according to the documents.
In November 2014, Los Angeles police officers confronted White as they responded to a car burglary report in Hollywood. White exchanged gunfire with the officers, and he was shot in the face and arm.
White had used the same handgun in the California shooting that was used to kill Waxenfelter, according to the documents.
In 2016, a Los Angeles County jury convicted White of multiple felony charges, including attempted murder and assault on a police officer. He was sentenced to at least 38 years in prison.
White is also a suspect in a child rape investigation in Western Washington, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
In an email to Clackamas County employees Wednesday, county administrator Donald Krupp announced the guilty plea and thanked authorities.
“I hope this brings a measure of closure to Grady’s family and to his friends and colleagues here at the county,” Krupp wrote. “Grady was a valued employee, and he is missed.”
White is expected to be sentenced in Oregon next week.
