PORTLAND – A Portland judge has ruled that aggravated murder suspect Jeremy Christian, accused of fatally stabbing two MAX train passengers in the neck in May and wounding a third man, must remain in jail pending trial.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht said it appears prosecutors have a strong case that Christian committed aggravated murder in fatally stabbing Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Ricky Best, 53, on the train as it pulled into the Hollywood Transit Center on May 26.
Christian also is charged with intentionally trying to kill a third passenger, Micah Fletcher, 23, who survived a serious knife wound to the neck.
Prosecutors appear to have the evidence they need to disprove any defense offered by Christian that he was defending himself against others, Albrecht wrote in a four-page decision made public Monday.
Prosecutors say Christian made anti-Muslim and xenophobic remarks and directed a hateful diatribe at two black teenage girls, one who was wearing a hijab, before the three men intervened.
Albrecht wrote that besides Christian, “there is no evidence that anyone possessed or used any weapons” and no evidence that anyone touched him beside Fletcher, who shoved Christian.
The judge also noted that a mental health professional’s report on Christian doesn’t provide evidence that Christian was suffering from a mental illness that would have prevented him from understanding that what he was doing was criminal.
“Viewing the evidence in its totality, the court finds the state has met its burden that evidence likely admissible at trial establishes that the presumption is strong and the proof evident that the defendant committed the offense of aggravated murder,” Albrecht wrote. “As such, the court does not set bail in this case.”
The ruling was dated Friday, and not entered into the electronic court document filing system until now. It followed a hearing last week when Christian asked the judge to allow him to post bail so he could be released from jail.
A trial date has not been set yet.
