ST. HELENS, Ore. (AP) — A grand jury has indicted the 21-year-old suspect in the killing of Police Chief Ralph Painter in Rainier.
The grand jury’s decision was handed up late Friday afternoon. The man, Daniel Butts, has been held without bail on murder charges since the shooting in the northwest Oregon town on Jan. 5.
Painter was shot at a car stereo shop where he’d gone to investigate a report of an attempted car theft.
The Columbia County district attorney’s office says the indictment accuses Butts of aggravated murder, which could carry the death penalty, and other charges including attempted murder, robbery, burglary, theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
