Hillsboro, Oregon criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with first-degree murder.

Washington County Courthouse - Hillsboro, Oregon

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Billy Lee Oatney, Jr., age 60, was accused of killing Auai LEAWN IN 1996.



The victim disappeared on August 27, 1996. Her family told police that defendant might have information about her whereabouts because the victim had been planning to meet with defendant to ask him to make some jewelry for her upcoming wedding. On September 2, 1996, the Tualatin police interviewed defendant, who stated that he had not seen the victim for three weeks. Later that evening, a Milwaukie police officer, who had no knowledge of the Tualatin police's questioning of defendant regarding the victim's disappearance, stopped defendant because the license plate light on his van was not working. Defendant's license check revealed no reason to detain him, but the police determined that defendant's passenger, Johnston, had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for a parole violation. The police arrested Johnston.

During the traffic stop and investigation of Johnston, one of the police officers saw defendant and Johnston moving a duffel bag inside the van as if to conceal it. The officer asked defendant for consent to look into the bag, and defendant consented. The police found, among other things, a replica of a Colt .45, a stun gun, a dart gun, a large knife, a lock-pick set, a pair of scissors, and a roll of duct tape. The police inventoried the items and returned them to defendant, but did not detain him further.

On September 9, 1996, the victim's badly decomposed body was found in Champoeg Park. In a subsequent interview with defendant, the Tualatin police learned of Johnston's September 2, 1996, arrest. They listened to tapes of Johnston's telephone conversations with defendant from jail and learned that defendant might have been involved in the victim's disappearance. (1) Over the next few weeks, the Tualatin police interviewed defendant several times. They also searched defendant's apartment and found blood matching the victim's blood on the carpet. (2) The Tualatin police continued to keep defendant under surveillance. After obtaining a search warrant, the police searched defendant's van. Among other items, they found the items from the duffel bag that the Milwaukie police had found during the September 2, 1996, stop.

Meanwhile, as a result of the continuing investigation of the victim's death, the state charged Johnston with one count of aggravated murder. Johnston pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, and, in exchange for his cooperation and testimony, the state agreed not to seek the death penalty.

Defendant was ultimately charged with eight counts of aggravated murder. At trial, both defendant and Johnston testified. Johnston testified that, while he was staying with defendant at defendant's apartment, defendant said that he had a date with the victim, left the apartment, and brought the victim back with him later that evening. While Johnston was on the telephone in another room, he heard defendant's stun gun being used. Johnston returned to the living room and saw the victim on the floor with defendant holding his stun gun to her neck. Johnston and defendant then tied up the victim and took her to the bedroom. They cut off her clothes with scissors and both of them raped and sodomized her. After forcing her to give them the personal identification number to her bank card, defendant sent Johnston out to get some money from an ATM using the victim's card. When Johnston returned, he saw that the victim had blood on her face and was not moving. Johnston testified that defendant had told him that defendant had hit and choked the victim because she "just wouldn't [have sex with] me." Defendant said that he had tried to kill her, but "the [victim] just won't die." Defendant and Johnston then held a plastic bag over the victim's head until she stopped breathing.



Defendant's conviction was reversed:



On Tuesday, February 7, 2023, Billy Lee Oatney, age 60, was convicted of Murder in the First Degree for the 1996 death and sexual assault of Susi Larsen — for the second time. Chief Deputy District Attorney Bracken McKey and Sr. Deputy District Attorney Andrew Freeman prosecuted the case before Judge Beth Roberts.



The victim, Susi Larsen, age 34, disappeared in August of 1996 after telling friends her plans to meet with Oatney, an acquaintance, about making jewelry for her wedding. Her body was found two weeks later near Champoeg State Park in Marion County.



Oatney was convicted for Larsen's death in 1998 but was granted a new trial after the Oregon Court of Appeals determined Oatney's attorney did not provide adequate representation at trial. The trial lasted three weeks.



Following the verdict, the jury listened to further evidence of Oatney's history, including his prior conviction of Attempted Murder in the 1980's, where he slit the throat and stabbed the chest of a service member while serving in the U.S. Navy. Oatney served 12 years and six months of the 22-year sentence for the Attempted Murder and was released from federal supervision just months before the murder of Susi Larsen.



The jury found that future efforts to rehabilitate Oatney would not be successful and prior sanctions have not deterred his conduct. Judge Beth Roberts used these findings to sentence Oatney to life in prison without the possibility of parole.



"Mr. Oatney is one of the most dangerous predators our office has prosecuted,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Bracken McKey. "Ensuring public safety and upholding justice for victims like Susi Larsen to the fullest extent is a top priority in Washington County — and our county is a safer place because of this conviction. Our hearts are with the family and friends of Miss Larsen who had to re-visit this tragic event decades later."



The Washington County District Attorney's Office would like to thank the Oregon State Police and the many parties involved since the 1996 investigation, including Oregon State Superintendent retiree Travis Hampton, Oregon State Police Detective retiree Eric Altman, Tualatin Police Captain retiree Brad King, Tualatin Police Detective retiree Kevin Winfield, Oregon State Chief Medical Examiner retiree Larry Lewman, Milwaukie Chief of Police Luke Strait and the many scientists, both active and retired, from the Oregon State Police Forensic Laboratory.

Defendant was found guilty again.