Every Town - Aloha, OR - Youngest Arson Murderer In History - Ray Martin DeFord

Episode Date: December 18, 2021

In this week’s episode of Every Town we'll head to Aloha, Washington County, Oregon where I’ll present to you the seemingly incomprehensible story of a young boy proven guilty of arson and murder. Equally interesting to know is how Ray DeFord pulled off such a crime at 11 years old.. having had is the kind of childhood he had sustained in the hands of his father. You may abhor him for his criminal acts, but you’ll also be gripped with compassion for Ray who experienced abuses that any child should be spared of, especially one who is mentally-challenged like Ray.💥 Watch the The Video of This Episodehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LQvVh9cMEI&ab_channel=ScaryMysteries💥 Videos way too Creepy for Youtubehttps://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries  Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you love true crime, grab your favorite mug and pour yourself a dose of creepy true crime every single morning with a morning cup of murder. This short daily show is the perfect podcast to incorporate into your morning routine because in less than 15 minutes, you'll hear about a true crime that took place on a day's date in history. Each day's dark history lesson will kickstart your morning with intriguing tales of murder, abduction, serial killers, cults,

and everything in between. With over 20 million downloads, Morning Cup of Murder has something for every true crime lover. One listener describes the show as a small package with a powerful punch of crime. Another writes that the show is an absolute delight in the morning. Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every town has a dark. Parkside. Today we head to Aloha, Oregon, where we learn about Ray Martin DeFord, who was the youngest

arsonist and murderer in Oregon's history. My dad says I'm the hero for the day. 11-year-old Raymond DeFord said after a fire broke out in their apartment complex west of Portland, Oregon in the summer of 1996. His claim to fame? Ray, as the boy was fondly called. called, took pride in being the first one to detect the fire and alerted his parents and neighbors about it. But despite the juvenile's heroic efforts, the fire took the lives of eight people, five of whom were innocent children. However, when the last of the smoldering remains of the fire had settled, the truth was exposed. Ray DeFord wasn't a hero after all. More aptly, he was the youngest arsonist and murderer in all of Oregon's history.

This is Andrew Fitzgerald, and in this week's episode of Everytown, I'll present to you the seemingly incomprehensible story of a young boy proving guilty of arson and murder. Equally interesting to know is how exactly Ray DeFord pulled off such a crime at just 11 years old. You may abhor him for his criminal acts, but he'll also be gripped with compassion for Ray, who experienced abuses that any child should be spared of, especially one who was mentally challenged just like Ray. The fate of Ray to Ford had been written in stone long before he was born on February 13, 1985.

His parents had problematic lives even before they became parents to Ray. Specifically, much of what the boy had become is rooted to how his father, Tom Martin, treated and influenced him. Thus the saying, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, is undeniably true in their case. A native of Texas, Tom was a self-proclaimed drifter and drug user

whose arm was adorned with needle and spoon tattoos. In 1969, he was arrested in New Mexico for stealing a car for someone who stomped to pick up a hitchhiker, pleading innocent of the offense. Tom blamed the crime on a friend and claimed that he only rode in the car with no knowledge that it had been stolen. The New Mexico police didn't believe Tom, which resulted in a 10-year imprisonment for robbery.

Two years later, Tom escaped from that New Mexico state penitentiary and became an outlaw. Having lived in Texas for most of his life, Tom said he got tired of the desert and moved to the green and lush surroundings of Oregon. or perhaps it was his tactic to evade being caught as an escaped convict. Perhaps so, because while working in Oregon, as a short-order cook, Tom assumed several different names and used at least three different birth dates to conceal his real identity. Then, by a stroke of luck, a violent ruckus at the New Mexico Penitentiary in 1980 destroyed the records of Tom's crimes that further covered his trail.

He then met Carolyn to Ford in the early 1980s, and although she was mentally handicapped, Tom married her, and they soon started a family with the arrival of their only child, Raymond Martin, in 1985. Looking at it one way, Tom had a window of opportunity to reform and actually become a good family man and father, but he did the exact opposite. Instead, he made choices and decisions that adversely affected his life, as well as his only son. Ray grew up, not with abundant parental love and care, but with abuse that came in different forms.

Ray's childhood, since he was a baby, started out grim, and just worsened through the years. When he was just a toddler, and one and a half years old, Ray's father hit him on the head with a clipboard because he wouldn't stop crying. Doctors later testified that the injury inflicted by Tom, caused frontal lobe damage on Ray's brain, which negatively impacted his learning disabilities and aggravated his behavioral problems.

Thus, as an 11-year-old boy in 1996 when the deadly fire happened, Ray functioned academically and socially at the level of a 7-year-old child. In 1991, Carolyn DeFord was convicted of harassing a neighbor. It speculated that her conviction prompted the first. family to move to the Oakwood Park Apartments in Aloha, a census designated place and unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon. Oakwood Park was the type of housing facility that catered to working or unemployed families and immigrants, particularly Mexicans who stick and often cluster together in neighborhoods and apartment complexes. When Tom, Carolyn, and Ray moved to the apartment,

An unfortunate incident struck the family. Tom had a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed and unable to drive a car. He relied mostly on social security checks he collected for himself and Carolyn. He tuled around the neighborhood on a three-wheel bicycle collecting cans and bottles for recycling. His life drastically changed after the stroke, but his abuses remained constant. Tom spent a spare time watching pornography and smoking pot with Ray and some older teenage boys from the neighborhood. Some of his bonding time with his mentally challenged son was in teaching Ray how to make cyanide gas from bleach, detergent, and Coca-Cola. When Tom got bored or angry, he would shoot Ray's legs with a BB gun, which the young boy had endured since he was six years old,

as attested by witnesses of Tom's cruelty towards his son. A teenage neighbor, Jed Derry, once said about Ray. Look at his parents, and you'll get the whole story. He needed better love and care. I don't think they know what he needed. It was no surprise then that Ray gained notoriety and a reputation of being a bully, and he became sort of an outcast in the neighborhood

of the Oakwood Park apartments. His family was demeaned by other tenants in the building, and Ray was thought to be a troublemaker. Since most kids in the neighborhood avoided him, Ray found solace and his python named Satan. Perhaps out of frustration for being an outcast, he often chased and beat up kids as young as five years old, and often threatened children with a BB gun. He also carried a knife for protection, which made other children fearful of him. Ray had learned to blame others for his problems with his father, but his parents were always there for him when he got in trouble too. In school, Ray was ostracized because it was a slow learner who dressed in shabby and dirty clothes and its scruffy blonde hair.

Kids would run away from him yelling Ray germs every time he would approach them. Whether at home or school, the boy was constantly at the receding end of not just physical, but also on. mental and emotional blows. So, he was perfectly set up to explode at some point. The only question was, what could he be capable of doing once he reached his boiling point? Despite the way he acted, some people painted Ray to Ford in a positive way, and they were those who got to know him away from his home and neighborhood. These people found Ray to be a caring boy eager to please. One of these individuals was Lisa Mentesana, a reading coordinator at Barnes Elementary School who met Ray when he was in third grade. She said, I never saw the child that they are saying that he is.

I never saw anything that would make me say this child is mean. I think he was a little boy who needed lots of hugs and support. I just feel so sad. Carol Pullen, the owner of Pet Circus, a pet store on a pet store. the Tuolaten Valley Highway, described Ray as an exuberant little kid who seemed to have a great interest in animals and who cared about them very much. She said that when Ray was shown respect, he gave respect, and was very eager to please. What they didn't know was that Ray wasn't just fond of playing with animals. He also had a panache for playing with fire. With a delayed cognitive ability,

Ray, perhaps, wasn't aware of its possible danger. One time, he sat the kitchen counter in the apartment unit on fire, but neither Tom nor Carolyn made him stop or even punished him. A similar incident happened at least four more times, which could have gone badly and got out of control. However, these incidents were kept away from the police, and in 1994, a then nine-year-old Ray set a fire in the recycling, been at Oakwood Park Apartments.

His neighbor, Raleigh Hoke, said that his son came running into their apartment yelling fire, and he used an extinguisher to put out the flames. Raleigh punished his son, thinking that his boy did it, but Ray later admitted to actually setting the fire. These unfortunate incidents likely served as practice rounds of a fatal fire that engulfed the Oakwood Park apartments just two years later. And this time, Ray wouldn't get off the hook. In June of 96, at the height of the agricultural season in Oregon's Washington County,

many of the apartment units in Oakwood Park were overcrowded with visiting friends and family members. At around 1.30 in the morning on June 28, the residents of the working-class apartment complex scrambled from their deep sleep when they were awakened by cries of fire, fire, fuego. Ray had a great story to tell about the incident. He said he awoke before anyone else because his rat, which was soon to be a meal for his pet snake, Satan, was squealing. Thus he claimed he was the first one to see the fire, which started on the second floor of the 12-unit apartment complex,

and consumed the stairwell and flames in seconds. Ray swiftly roused his parents from their sleep, and the three alerted the other tenants of the fire. He guided Tom and Carolyn out of their bedroom window on the second level, and other residents who were quick to their feet, escaped danger as well. Tim Burr, a spokesman for the Tulane Valley Fire and Rescue, said, leaving the apartments on that upper level would have been like going down a chimney, like opening the door on the side of a chimney and trying to go right in.

Unfortunately, the fire caused many residents' injuries, burns, and broken bones. Worst of all, the fire led to the loss of lives including an infant, as well as four elementary school kids. Many tenants escaped by jumping from second and third-story windows and balconies. Fourteen people were injured and nearly 60 people were left homeless. The detailed accounts of some tenants best expressed the trauma brought by the blaze, Patricio Achillear, who lived in apartment 36 on the third floor. and his 16-year-old wife, Francesca, and the three-month-old baby awoke to a smoke-filled bedroom. Francisco held tightly the infant and ran in panic circles while screaming,

We're going to die. Patricio ran to the front door, but large flames threatened to consume his unit, so he slammed the door and ran back into the bedroom. That night, Patricio and Francisco had their friends, Ariselli and Nicholas Chavez, with their three-month-old baby Selena as guests in their unit. The Chavez couple boldly jumped from the bedroom window, and both were injured, but baby Selena died from her injuries. In the midst of the smoke and fire, Patricio took his little girl from Francisco

and was contemplating on jumping out of the window as well. His friend Alberto, who had just escaped from his own apartment, stood below the window, yelled at Patricio, telling him he would catch the window. baby. While saying a prayer, Patricio threw out the window his daughter, who was miraculously caught by Alberta. Patricio then went back for his wife but was unable to find her, so he jumped from his apartment window and suffered third-degree burns on his hands and arms. Francisco ultimately died in the blaze. Later on in the hospital, Patricio said, I don't feel any physical pain, I just want to die. The greatest misfortune befell upon another Aguilar family

occupying Unit 34. 37-year-old Jeremiah's Aguilar and his 26-year-old wife, Virginia, didn't awaken time. As a consequence, they weren't able to cheat death together with their four children, Jacqueline, Karen, Augustine, and Patricia, whose ages range from five to eight years old. The Aguilar families, suffered the most tragic plight from that fatal fire, the one firefighter described as hellish. He couldn't stand up because the heat was so intense, and he had to keep moving as the fire burned through his shoes and the sleeves of his coat.

When the protective mask he wore began to warp from the heat, he was then forced to retreat. The fire was not an act of God. It was a case of arson as a fire accelerant was found at one spot in the stairwell. but ultimately, neglect is what fueled the uncontrollable flames. Investigators discovered many discrepancies and violations on the part of Oakwood Park Apartments. The building had no sprinkler system, a violation of building codes in Aloha that required multifamily dwellings of three or more stories to have a fire sprinkler installed.

But the three-story Oakwood Park building got around this law by how many, having an earthen berm erected around the first floor, which was renamed the basement. The apartment complex was then categorized as a two-story building and wasn't required to have a sprinkler system. Moreover, fire investigators found that only one of the 12 apartments in the building had working smoke alarms. The handpole fire alarms located in the stairwell were impossible for tenants to reach because the fire started there. But the alarms weren't functioned. because nothing happened when they were finally pulled by a tenant. It was also an issue concerning the building's fire hydrant,

which hadn't been inspected for five years, causing one hydrant to burst as firefighters tried to connect hoses to it. Having established the fire as a case of arson, investigators said it was the worst possible kind because the fire accelerant was positioned perfectly to turn the stairwell into a firestorm. The timing was impeccable as well, such that it made sure residents were asleep and the fire started in a spot that prevented easy escape.

Authorities then offered a $5,000 reward for information on the arsonist. Some speculated that an evicted tenant was out for revenge and actually set the building on fire, which went out of control. Some of the women in the building said that the dryer in the laundry room on the first floor had been smoking for days and it may have caught fire, but the most revealing and valuable information came from Michael Eastlick, the manager of the Oakwood Park Apartments.

Michael was initially overwhelmed with the motions, and especially for the Aguilar family members who all died in the fire. Jeremiah was the building's mechanic who helped anyone having car trouble. His wife, Virginia, ran a daycare center in their apartment unit and was the substitute mother for most of the children who lived there. Further probing, soon made Michael remember a few minor fire incidents in the building.

He recalled that in the past year, an 11-year-old boy named Ray DeFord, living in Unit 25 with his troublesome parents, had been caught setting fire in the building at least four times. However, none of these incidents were ever reported the police as the fires were quickly put out. Immediately after the blaze in June of 96, Ray then committed a couple of that shifted the authority's attention on him. First he bragged to the police, then he knew about the fire.

Then he pulled the fire alarm in the hallway of the Ramada Inn where survivors of the fire were temporarily housed. His parents, Tom and Carolyn, talked on TV interviews about how their son, the hero, rescued them from the flames. Police investigating the fire soon heard rumors that Tom had been overheard bragging that he had escaped from a prison in the southwest.

When authorities first approached Ray about his story of heroism, he claimed the fire was set by three neighborhood kids who pressured him to join their gang. So soon, the hero Ray was now the main suspect, and then he was arrested for arson and murder. In subsequent questioning by Detective Michael O'Connell of the Washington County Sheriff's Department on July 2nd, Ray finally broke down and confessed to starting the fire that claimed the eight lives.

The boy admitted that he was experimenting with alcohol and matches in the stairwell when he accidentally lit fire on a pile of newspapers. He also told authorities that a story about a squeaking rat that woke him up was fake. Detective O'Connell and observed that Ray was emotionally flat while talking about the fire. And while he seemed to be able to understand that eight people at least, lost their lives. He didn't seem to understand what it meant in the gravity of the losses. However, Ray's parents defended him saying that he was coerced by the detective to make a false confession. Carolyn told a relative, those Washington County detectives hounded and hounded him

until he told them what they wanted. She further said there was no way that her son set the fire since he was watching television with them late Thursday night. We bring him in at 6 p.m. every night, she said. But a neighbor, Kim Kelly, said she had seen the boy out as late as 2 a.m. Another neighbor, Deborah Bitterin, said, he seemed like he was always on the loose for an 11-year-old. After his arrest, Ray DeFord was held in a juvenile detention center in Portland. By law, the 11-year-old troubled boy couldn't be prosecuted as an adult.

He then became the youngest person ever charged with arson and murder in Oregon. Ray was so young that he caused problems for Oregon's juvenile justice system, which was set up for children 12 years old and over. Tom and Carolyn had to waive Ray's right to a verdict and sentence in 56 days so that he could be tried as a juvenile after his 12th birthday. In August of 1997, Ray was then found guilty in juvenile court for setting a fire At the Oakland Park Apartments, in June of 96, I killed eight individuals. Circuit Judge Timothy Alexander deemed Ray responsible for one count of arson,

eight counts of felony murder, and eight counts of criminally negligent homicide. He was sentenced to confinement until the age of 25, and the judge said, I'm still convinced he has no idea what he did. That's precisely what makes Ray so dangerous. Much has happened since Ray's sentencing. His father, Tom, was arrested and returned to New Mexico, where he escaped from prison 26 years ago while serving time for that robbery. He served a little over two years and was released in 1999. He then returned to Oregon and relocated to the Hillsborough area.

Meanwhile, Ray's mentally handicapped mother, Carolyn, who couldn't read or write, died of cancer in 2000 at the age of 51. In 2001, Ray's conviction was overturned. The argument centered on the pile of newspapers used to start the fire. The defense team claimed that Ray had meant only to light the newspapers which had no value and not the actual apartment complex. Improving their argument, Ray's attorneys overturned both the arson and murder convictions. But despite this court ruling, Ray was denied immediate freedom. The Oregon Attorney's General Office stated that he would remain in state custody until he reached the age of 25, gutting the intent of the ruling.

Ray DeFords, present whereabouts are unknown, but if he were still alive today, he would be 36 years old and celebrating 11 years of being free again. Hopefully, he's learned to let go of his memories as a maltreated, maligned, and misguided child. Only then could he possibly find the fire in his heart to make the best of the remaining years in his life. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. Tune in next week for another episode filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories. Because who knows, maybe your town will be next.