Third suspect arrested in teen's murder in Oregon

Third suspect arrested in teen's murder in Oregon

11:55 AM PDT on Thursday, June 5, 2008

By TERESA BLACKMAN / KGW.com

MILWAUKIE, Ore. - Deputies in Kansas captured a young man accused of sexually abusing a teenager before she was murdered during a violent attack at a Milwaukie apartment party.


kgw.com/Finney Co. Sheriff's Office

Shon Estes as shown in a mug shot from police.
Dani Countryman was 15 and on vacation from her home in Texas when she was murdered in July of 2007. She was found dead after attending a party with her sister.

Investigators believe someone stepped on her throat and strangled her as they tried to rape her.

Alejandro Rivera Gamboa and his cousin, Gilberto Javier Arellano Gamboa, were already charged with aggravated murder in Countryman’s death. The two also face charges of attempted rape and attempted sex-abuse.

Until Tuesday, police had not even told the media that they were searching for a third suspect in the case.

Shon Estes was arrested Sunday in Finney County, Kansas on a warrant for his arrest on sex abuse, sodomy, and attempted rape charges in Clackamas County, according to detective Jim Strovink with the sheriff’s office. Estes was not charged with murder.


KGW photo

Dani Countryman
Estes’ bail was set at $75,000 and he is fighting extradition to Oregon.

According to Sgt. Michael Reagle with the Garden City Police Department, Estes was arrested "without incident" at a residence in Garden City, Kansas. Sgt. Reagle said they were tipped off by the Clackamus County Sheriff's Office that Estes might be in Garden City because of an aqauintence he knew that might be there.

As for the two cousins, they were arrested in 2007 and were awaiting trial in jail.

Investigators said Countryman scratched the men who killed her, providing valuable DNA evidence under her fingernails that led to two arrests.

Forensic scientists from Oregon State Police said a shoe seized from one of the suspects, Alejandro, 24, had blood on it. The pattern of the shoe was also consistent with the imprint on Countryman's chest, according to investigators.

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