Hunter Killed in Oregon

[Chris Cram]

RIP Frank Means...

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index...s_why_her.html

By Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian
October 15, 2009, 7:25AM

In most of the family photographs stacked on his widow's coffee table, Frank Means is either on the water fishing, or out in the woods hunting.

The avid sportsman was equally passionate about his family, his wife Jackie said, and pleased and excited about his yet to-be-born, seventh grandchild: A boy due in December.

But a week after he died in a remote hunting camp along the John Day River of multiple gunshot wounds, family and friends are confounded by a maze of unanswered questions.

This much is known: The 61-year-old father of four and grandfather of six left his Northeast Portland home on Oct. 2 for a weeklong deer hunting trip in Wheeler County, where he camped at an area known as Priest Hole. It's about 10 miles west of the Twickenham Bridge.

Tony Means, Frank's 38-year-old son, said he visited his dad's camp on Monday, Oct. 5, and showed him where deer were hiding nearby. Tony and a friend then returned to their camp about an hour away. Two days later, Frank Means bagged his buck.
"The last picture on his camera was taken at about 12:30 Wednesday afternoon," Tony Means said. "It was a picture of his buck."
That night, Frank Means apparently packed his small trailer with most of his gear before a planned return to Portland the next morning.

He never made it. At around 7 p.m., Means was shot and killed in his camp during what Wheeler County Sheriff Robert Hudspeth has characterized as a confrontation with several other people from the Portland area.

Dr. Clifford Nelson of the state medical examiner's office said Means died of multiple gunshot wounds.

"It was clear that he was shot by someone," Nelson said. But he also said he knew few circumstances of the shooting, and admitted that he usually gets more details about homicide cases. He has ruled the shooting a homicide.

So far, no arrests have been made, but Wheeler County district attorney Dan Ousley said Wednesday afternoon his office had just received the autopsy report and he expects to get the investigating officers' reports by the end of this week or early next week.

"I expect we will have some more answers by then," Ousley said.

Lt. Gregg Hastings, spokesman for the Oregon State Police, said state police officials offered to assist in the investigation, "but we are not providing any assistance at this time."

That apparent refusal by the three-man Wheeler County Sheriff's Office to accept help from a larger, experienced agency, and other questions have left Frank Means' family dismayed and confused.

"I want some answers, but everybody has been so tight-lipped," Jackie Means said Wednesday as a steady stream of relatives came by her house, still decorated for Halloween. "We want to know what happened."

Jackie Means said her husband's shooting wasn't reported until two hours after he was shot, and his camp was broken down and packed away by 1 a.m. the following morning -- just four hours after his shooting was reported.

His Ford pickup truck and utility trailer were taken away a short time later by a nearby towing company. As far as she can tell, Jackie Means said, the only item sheriff's officials kept was Means' 9 mm pistol.

She said sheriff's officials told her the person or people involved in the shootings were allowed to leave shortly after the shooting.

"Why weren't they detained?" she wondered. "Why was the camp broken down so quickly?"

When she demanded answers, she said Wheeler County Sheriff's officials were "rude" and evasive, she said.

Contacted by The Oregonian Wednesday, a deputy with the Wheeler County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the case. But county officials said Means' death was only the second homicide in the 1,800-square-mile county in the past 20 years.

Meanwhile, rumors abound on hunting and fishing internet forums and in the small towns of Mitchell and Fossil.

"We've heard that someone came into his camp and there was some kind of confrontation," Jackie Means said. "Frank could be hot-headed, but he would never hurt anybody."

At that time of the evening, she said, her husband normally would have been relaxing in a tent with one of the three books he took along. He read "everything," she said, but most often non-fiction history books.

Tony Means said police forgot to take the deer Frank Means left hanging in a tree at his camp following their investigation. When they returned, the deer was gone, he said.

Tony Means, who believes his father fired at least one shot before he died, also wonders how thorough the Wheeler County investigation could have been if it was conducted in the dark, and if investigators left the scene in four hours.

"The pain of my father's death has gone away, and all that's left is anger," Tony Means said. "One sheriff and two deputies? Why would they refuse the state police's help? It's too late now; the crime scene is contaminated."

Frank's brother, Steve Means, said the family was so frustrated with the lack of information that he called the Oregon Attorney General's office Wednesday morning.

"They told me not to get angry, and to have questions written out to have answered," Means said. He and other family members plan to travel to Fossil Friday to get those questions answered.

"We're like a bunch of lost sheep," Steve Means said. "Any news would be better than what we've got."

[The Reaper]

Not from the area and don't know the situation, but probably ran afoul of pot growers, IMHO.

TR

[Pete]

"......She said sheriff's officials told her the person or people involved in the shootings were allowed to leave shortly after the shooting......"

So who was "the person or people"?

That is the question. And then "where is/are the statements?"

Sounds fishy to me.

Somebody related to the three man department maybe?

[Utah Bob]

A 3 man Sheriff's Dept conducting their own homicide investigation? Absolutely unheard of.
Something is rotten in the Great Northwet.

[FMF DOC]

Sounds like some good Ol boys are in this together and MUM's the word. Wonder what does it take to get the FBI involved???

[Chris Cram]

Still doesn't sound right.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index...and_kille.html

http://www.katu.com/news/local/69382957.html

This is a press release courtesy of the Oregon State Police

Wheeler County District Attorney Daniel Ousley announced Friday that a Wheeler County Grand Jury convened on Thursday, November 5th, to review investigative facts into the death of 61-year old Howard Franklin Means from Portland.

The Grand Jury carefully reviewed witness accounts in addition to Wheeler County Sheriff's Office video taped interviews, photographs, and collected physical evidence items.

The Grand Jury then handed down no indictments, concluding the actions of those involved in the death of Mr. Means were justified as self defense and in defense of another person.

The investigation was led by the Wheeler County Sheriff's Office with the subsequent assistance of various Oregon State Police enforcement divisions, Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office, and Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division.

Evidence collected and information developed during the investigation that was presented to the Grand Jury came from three involved adults; two independent witnesses camped at the scene of the altercation; the Oregon State Police Crime Laboratory; the Oregon State Medical Examiner; and, the Wheeler County Sheriff's Office whose two deputies involved in the investigation are certified and licensed as Deputy Medical Examiners by the State of Oregon.

The investigation developed evidence and testimony that determined the following factual sequence of events during the late afternoon of October 7, 2009 in the "Priest Hole" camping area along the John Day River in Wheeler County:

Howard Franklin Means was camping in the area and had killed a mule deer buck prior to the incident, which was field dressed, covered by fabric and hanging in a tree approximately 220 feet from his tent in a neighboring camping area.

A separate hunting party comprised of three adults and an 11-year old juvenile male from the Scappoose and Hillsboro areas were on a family hunting trip and camping in the same general area. These individuals were identified as Gary Havlik, age 63; Russell Havlik, age 33; Daron Havlik, age 30, and a related 11-year old juvenile male.

On the evening of October 7th, the Havlik family was looking for a wounded deer shot by another party and was observed to be wounded in the area of the Priest Hole camp area. They entered an area where a third party of hunters began to set up camp in the vicinity of Mr. Means' camp.

Those two hunters were not involved in the impending altercation and served as independent witnesses during the investigation and subsequent Grand Jury presentation.

Witness testimony developed during the investigation and presented before the Grand Jury indicates Gary Havlik approached the independent witnesses, engaging them in a conversation and inquired if they had observed the wounded deer his family was seeking.

At this moment Mr. Means appeared and accused Gary Havlik of attempting to steal his hanging buck deer, subsequently producing a 9mm semi-automatic handgun he pulled from the back of his belt.

Mr. Means, at very close range, pointed the handgun directly at Gary Havlik who denied attempting to take Mr. Means' deer and never made claim for the animal. Gary Havlik subsequently laid his hunting rifle on the ground and pleaded to Mr. Means not to point his handgun into his stomach and chest area.

Gary Havlik's sons, Daron and Russell, approached their father and Mr. Means from a brushy area after hearing their father's pleas. They also requested Mr. Means to remove the handgun from their father's stomach and to put his handgun down.

There was never a claim by any member of the Havlik hunting party to Mr. Means' harvested deer, although he continued to assert that their intention was the theft of his deer.

Witness accounts described Mr. Means as upset, angry and apparently very intoxicated as he continued to refuse their pleas and pointed his handgun into Gary Havlik's stomach and chest area.

Fearing for his father's life, Daron Havlik attempted to shoot the handgun out of Mr. Means' hand with one round from a .357 handgun. This shot caused injury to Mr. Means' hand and firearm. Despite the injury, Mr. Means' retained hold of his handgun and subsequently fired one round at Daron Havlik that passed through his shirt sleeve without seriously injuring him.

Daron Havlik subsequently again returned fire from his handgun striking Mr. Means. Russell Havlik, who was next to his juvenile son, also fired at least one round from a .30-06 bolt action hunting rifle at Mr. Means in defense of his family.

As determined by the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office, Mr. Means died at the scene from the gunshot wounds. Additional evidence indicated Mr. Means' blood alcohol content (BAC) level at the time of his death was reported to be .24 percent.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Chris Cram

Still doesn't sound right.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index...and_kille.html

http://www.katu.com/news/local/69382957.html

Sounds like one side of the story from the survivors.

There is no opposing testimony.

TR

[Chris Cram]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Sounds like one side of the story from the survivors.

There is no opposing testimony.

TR

The Sheriff reported that Franks glasses and a book were on his cot in his tent...

Franks' Son, said that Dad likes to read a book and drink a beer in the evening after the hunt.

[kimberly]

Originally Posted by Chris Cram

The Sheriff reported that Franks glasses and a book were on his cot in his tent...

Franks' Son, said that Dad likes to read a book and drink a bear in the evening after the hunt.

I've known a LOT of hunters to sit in camp and drink after a long day in the woods, but to be drunk and try to read a book must be a real feat. I doubt the man was drunk.

[Richard]

...likes to read a book and drink a bear...

Musta been one tough fella! Sounds as if the 'bear' mighta won.

Richard

[Bill Harsey]

Been listening to this "hot topic" being discussed on Lars Larson's regional talk radio show. Something isn't right about this one.

My gut tells me it was murder.

[Roguish Lawyer]

No charges filed

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index...n_october.html

Thread closed.