Ward Weaver III
Encyclopedia
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
. He is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole for sexual assault, rape, attempted murder, and the murders of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis in Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
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Early life and prior marriages
In 1967, Ward Weaver's father abandoned the family. A few years later, Weaver's mother, Trish, married Bob Budrow, an abusive alcoholicAlcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
.
Weaver first exhibited antisocial behavior as a teenager; his sister, Tammi, later said that he physically and sexually abused at least one family member by the time he was 12. In 1981, a teenaged relative reported that he had repeatedly raped and beat her. Police investigated allegations of abuse in 1981, but Multnomah County prosecutors decided not to pursue charges, because Weaver had enlisted in the armed services and would be leaving Portland.
In 1981, Weaver joined the US Navy Reserve. He was discharged on May 17, 1982, for heavy drinking and dereliction of duty. While in the Navy, he met his future wife, Maria Stout. The couple moved in with Weaver's parents, and she was soon pregnant. Weaver attacked her and put her in the hospital when she was five months pregnant, but she refused to press charges. She eventually bore him a son, followed by a daughter seven years later.
Around the time of his son's birth, Weaver's father was convicted of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and sentenced to death.
Some time later, Weaver and his wife moved in with the Ordanas family. One night, an intoxicated Weaver attacked 15-year-old Jennifer Ordanas with a concrete block. She escaped, and Weaver was sentenced to three years in prison for assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
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In 1993, Maria Weaver filed a restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against her husband, and their marriage ended in divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. In July 1995, Weaver beat his new girlfriend, Kristi Sloan, with a cast-iron skillet
Frying pan
A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab handle opposite the main handle...
. He was jailed for the incident, but Sloan refused to testify against him. By October they were back together and, in February 1996, they married. The marriage lasted four years.
Murders of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis
In August 2001, Ashley accused Weaver of attempting to rape her, but the police didn't investigate. On January 9, 2002, Ashley disappeared on her way to school. Friends and family, including Miranda, began to search for her.
Two months later, on March 8, Miranda vanished. Neither girl was ever seen alive again. After the girls vanished, Weaver (with the help of his son), dug a hole in his yard and covered it with concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
; Weaver told his son it was a pad for a hot tub
Hot tub
A hot tub is a large tub or small pool full of heated water and used for soaking, relaxation, massage, or hydrotherapy. In most cases, they have jets for massage purposes. Hot tubs are usually located outdoors, and are often sheltered for protection from the elements, as well as for privacy....
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On August 13, Weaver was arrested for raping his son's 19-year-old girlfriend. Upon calling 9-1-1, Weaver's son told emergency dispatchers that his father admitted killing Ashley and Miranda. On the weekend of August 24-25, FBI agents found the remains of Miranda Gaddis in a bag in the storage shed. The next day they found the remains of Ashley Pond beneath the concrete slab in his backyard.
News coverage
Portland TribunePortland Tribune
The Portland Tribune is a free weekly newspaper published each Thursday in Portland, Oregon, United States.The Tribune is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area, and also owns and operates the talk radio station KPAM, and...
reporter Jim Redden got two tips early on – one from Linda O'Neal, a private investigator and a relative of Pond – which prompted him to interview Weaver. Weaver told Redden that he was the FBI's prime suspect, at a time when it was generally believed there was no such suspect.
KATU
KATU
KATU, virtual channel 2, also known as K2, is an ABC-affiliated television station broadcasting on digital channel 43 in Portland, Oregon, USA. It has been owned by Fisher Communications of Seattle, Washington, which has been the owner of the Seattle's ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, ever since it began...
television news reporter Anna Song
Anna Song (journalist)
Anna Song Canzano is an American broadcast journalist who works at KATU-Television in Portland, Oregon. She previously worked at Los Angeles' ABC NewsOne and held an internship at KABC-TV in Los Angeles....
conducted an interview with Weaver prior to his arrest. During the interview, Weaver stood on top of the concrete slab where one of the bodies was buried.
O'Neal went on to write a book about the case. The book was somewhat fictionalized, featuring composite characters and reconstructed conversations. O'Neal contended that the substance of the book was accurate, but the FBI criticized the book, and took exception to O'Neal's characterization of how the case was solved.
Aftermath
On October 2, 2002, Weaver was indicted and charged with: six counts of aggravated murder; two counts of abuse of a corpse in the second degree; one count of sexual abuseSexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
in the first degree; one count of attempted rape in the second degree; one count of attempted aggravated murder; one count of first degree attempted rape; one count of sexual abuse in the first degree; one count of sexual abuse in the second degree; and two counts of sexual abuse in the third degree.
In September 2004, Weaver pleaded guilty to two charges and no-contest to the rest. A plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
allowed him to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to two life sentences without parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
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In 2002, then-Governor John Kitzhaber
John Kitzhaber
John Albert Kitzhaber is the 37th Governor of Oregon. He served as the 35th Governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and became the first person to be elected to the office three times when he was re-elected to a non-consecutive third term in 2010...
launched a multi-agency investigation into the handling of the first report of Weaver's abuse of Pond.
On March 4, 2007, Weaver was walking to the barber shop at the Snake River Correctional Institution for a hair cut, when the barber revealed a makeshift knife and attacked him, causing neck and shoulder injuries. He was treated at the prison. The barber was placed in the disciplinary unit.