Man to serve minimum 50 years for killing grandparents

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a 27-year-old man to at least 50 years in prison for the murder of his grandparents in Eugene.

Nicholas Borden-Cortez was sentenced last week in Lane County for two counts of first-degree murder, The Register-Guard reported.

Borden-Cortez pleaded guilty in June to the May 6, 2021, murder of 85-year-old Nancy Loucks-Morris and 87-year-old Gerald Morris.

As part of his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped two charges of second-degree abuse of a corpse and a charge of attempting to elude a police officer, as well as a separate but related case with two charges of unlawful firearm use.

Investigators found his grandparents dead inside a home in the Falconwood Mobile Home Park, police said.

Later that day, police named Borden-Cortez as a suspect. Borden-Cortez was arrested on May 7, 2021, in Springfield after a vehicle chase. Police said he initially challenged officers to shoot him before he was taken into custody.

Borden-Cortez will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum 50 years of his sentence.