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OREGON CITY, Or. -- A Clackamas County jury found Chad Michael Westover guilty Wednesday of killing a man during a physical altercation last year.
The jury found Westover guilty of Murder in the Second Degree and Unlawful Use of a Weapon. He will be held without bail at the Clackamas County jail and sentenced at 9 a.m. Nov. 17.
Westover, 53, repeatedly stabbed Tristan Thomas on Sept. 21, 2024 at an apartment complex on Southeast Sunnyside Road.
Earlier in the day, Thomas quarreled with a neighbor, Christopher Stewart. Thomas pepper sprayed Stewart who pushed Thomas to the ground. That night, Thomas encountered Stewart’s teenage daughter who was alarmed and called Stewart.
Stewart, Westover and Westover’s cousin, Samantha Christensen then confronted Thomas, who had armed himself with a large kitchen knife. Thomas called 911 and returned to the stairwell of the apartment that he shared with his mother.
Stewart and Christensen filmed the verbal confrontation. Westover told them to put their phones away so that he could "handle it." Another neighbor, however, continued filming.
Westover went to the stairwell of Thomas’ apartment. There was a scuffle outside the apartment followed by a three-minute attack which was captured on video and recorded on Thomas’ 911 call.
Several neighbors and Thomas’ mother yelled at Westover, who was on top of Thomas and stabbing him with the kitchen knife, to halt the assault. Westover was also injured during the altercation.
Thomas was stabbed several times and suffered a 4-inch slash to his left vertebral artery. He died at a hospital on Oct. 3, 2024.
Westover fled the scene and was arrested on Sept. 26 at an Oregon City post office. He told others that he sustained his injuries in a motorcycle accident.
Westover’s attorneys claimed Thomas was the aggressor and pointed to stab wounds inflicted on Westover by Thomas. They portrayed Thomas as an unreasonable and unstable man bent on pursuing his grievance against Stewart. They said Thomas was intoxicated on the night of the stabbing.
Deputy District Attorneys Torrey McConnell and Chelsea Jones prosecuted the case.
Clackamas County Circuit Court case 24CR50697
