EOU Home  |  About EOU | Visitors Center   

Man charged in fire victim's death

By T.L. Petersen
The La Grande Observer

Published: March 1, 2004

 

The Observer/Phil Bullock Firefighters work at the scene of an apartment fire Thursday, behind 1601 Adams Ave. in La grande, where 20-year-old Christopher Fahlgren died. Murder and arson charges have been filed in connection with the fire.

The death Thursday morning of Christopher Fahlgren, 20, in his Adams Avenue apartment took an unexpected twist Saturday.

A 25-year-old La Grande man, Michael James Botting, was arrested just after 10 p.m. Saturday and charged in Fahlgren's death. He was to be arraigned at 1:15 p.m. today on charges of aggravated murder, first-degree assault and arson.

Thursday afternoon, Union County District Attorney Martin Birnbaum had said in a press release that Fahlgren had apparently died of smoke inhalation when a fire in his apartment bedroom overcame him.

Birnbaum added at that time that there would be an autopsy done to confirm Fahlgren's cause of death.

Referring to the investigation conducted Thursday by La Grande Police, Birnbaum said their work "was remarkable."

La Grande Detective Phil Myer, Birnbaum said, first noticed that there was a bruise on Fahlgren's forehead as he was removed from the apartment.

Checking the rest of Fahlgren's body, which had sustained some fire damage but not to the head and scalp area, Myer found a bruise at the back of his head.

Birnbaum said while the bruises appeared as if they could have been caused by a fall, they were suspicious enough to warrant further investigation.

Birnbaum had already authorized a regular autopsy for Fahlgren, but the bruises led to a determination to call for a forensic autopsy in Portland.

"The police worked hard Friday to get him to Portland," Birnbaum said, explaining that Officer Jared Rogers drove Fahlgren's body to Portland Friday.

An autopsy was done Saturday, Birnbaum said, and he got a call later in the day.

The result: Fahlgren had "blunt force trauma injuries" to both the front and back of his head. And the trauma wasn't caused by a simple fall.

Meanwhile, Birnbaum said, police had been having "conversations" with various acquaintances of Fahlgren.

They learned that Fahlgren's girlfriend allegedly had previously dated Botting.

Officer Lisa Reddington was the first La Grande officer to interview Botting late in the day Saturday, Birnbaum said.

Working on the case Friday and Saturday were members of the regional major crime team, including investigators from the Oregon State Police, Baker City, Pendleton and the La Grande Police. "It really involved quite a force," the district attorney said.

Members of the team went over the fire scene, by then considered a crime scene, reviewed the evidence and conducted interviews.

During Reddington's interview with Botting, Botting made statements linking him to both Fahlgren's death and to the start of the fire, Birnbaum said.

"We think he beat Fahlgren up, and then started the fire," Birnbaum said.

While Birnbaum and investigators are proceeding with legal action against Botting, the exact cause of the apartment fire, which was noticed just before 8 a.m. Thursday, is still being listed as undetermined, said Scott Goss of the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office out of Pendleton this morning.

Goss was called in Thursday by the La Grande Fire Department after Fahlgren was found in the burned apartment.

All fires that involve a fatality are legally required to be reported to the fire marshal, Goss explained. If the fire department or local law enforcement then requests it, a state fire marshal further investigates the scene.

Goss has determined that the fire in Fahlgren's apartment started near the dresser, but the suspect lamp near a plastic fish tank has yet to be eliminated as the cause.

Birnbaum, working from police reports, said that it appeared the bedroom fire may have smoldered after the initial flames for some time, up to a few hours, before it was noticed.

"It was a really tiny apartment," Birnbaum explained.

Police are still looking for three pieces of property that may explain more about the suspected fire and suspicious fire, Birnbaum said.

Those items include a rag wool sweater — believed to be red, white and green — that may have been dropped along Island Avenue in the Portland Avenue area; a pair of gray synthetic leather slip-on shoes, men's size 8 1/2 or 9; and a plastic container that could have held gasoline or liquid paraffin.

Contact EOU Advancement | Alumni | Government Relations | President