Attorneys argue charges were too long in coming

Attorneys for Brenda Duran, the former Corvallis woman accused of murdering her husband nearly 24 years ago, have filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying prosecutors were too slow to bring charges against their client.

Her attorneys also asked the court to suppress Duran’s confession, which was recorded Oct. 12 during an interrogation by Corvallis detectives at the Johnston County Courthouse in Tishomingo, Okla.

A Circuit Court judge is expected to consider the matters on April 24.

Duran is accused of shooting her husband, Greg Kirkelie, 29, in the back with a shotgun, then telling authorities that an “East Indian” man had committed the crime while robbing the couple’s downtown Corvallis shoe repair store. Kirkelie died a short time later at Good Samaritan Hospital.

For years detectives chased down leads in the case. Then, another former husband of Duran came forward with a box of shotgun shells, which, according to FBI tests, came from the same batch as those used to shoot Kirkelie.

Duran is being held at the Benton County jail. A judge denied her bail earlier this month.

In its appeal to dismiss the case, the lawyers said “there was an unreasonable and prejudicial delay in filing the charge” against Duran and that the delayed indictment violates her right to due process.

Separately, in documents arguing that Duran’s confession should be thrown out, attorneys said detectives Karin Stauder and Shawn Houck manipulated the 53-year-old woman into confessing and did not tell her that she did not have to speak to them.

Duran’s statements to the detectives, Portland attorney Pat Birmingham argued, “were not voluntarily made.”

“They were the product of hope, fear, promises and/or intimations of favor, including the promise that the victim’s family was not interested in the defendant serving any time, that they were going to meet with the DA and tell him so.”

Birmingham said an Oklahoma official asked Duran, who was living in the state, to come to the courthouse on Oct. 12 so that he could talk to her about a burglary. But, after she arrived, he handed her over to Houck and Stauder, who had flown to Tishomingo after new evidence surfaced in the 1982 murder.

Duran was led down a hallway, past several prisoners, and into a small, windowless room, Birmingham wrote.

The lawyers allege that Houck and Stauder “decided ahead of time that they would not advise her of her constitutional rights,” but instead pressed her for at least a half an hour, saying they had evidence “for leverage” and suggesting that Duran may not be prosecuted in the case.

Houck reportedly told Duran, “Karin and I have discretion not to charge you,” according to the motion. “We can walk and let you walk.”

The detectives eventually broke Duran down. At one point, she said, “You guys are too good.” And, moments later she confessed.

“After I gave him a hug and told him I loved him, I took the gun and put it between the shelves … and shot him,” Duran said.

The motion to throw out Duran’s confession centers around when, exactly, Duran was in custody and when detectives should have read her her rights.

Although federal law does not require that a suspect be read her Miranda rights until she is arrested, the standard under Oregon law is more restrictive. The Oregon Constitution, Duran’s lawyers argue, requires that suspects be Mirandized when they might feel compelled to answer an investigators’ questions.

Deputy District Attorney John Mason said Friday that, although Duran was interviewed in Oklahoma, the Oregon standard applies.

During a hearing earlier this month, attorney Wayne Mackeson pressed the detectives on why they did not advise Duran of her rights before they interrogated her.

“She was not in custody,” detective Stauder told him.

Mason declined to comment on specific aspects of the arguments, but he said such motions are standard in murder cases.

“Obviously, they have to do a thorough job of exploring all of the legal issues,” he said.