Plea date set for Bend woman accused of helping reported boyfriend Caleb Cegers flee after fatal downtown shooting
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A judge set a Nov. 8 plea hearing Tuesday for a Bend woman accused of punching a downtown Bend bartender last month and helping her reported boyfriend, Caleb Cegers, flee after a fatal shooting on the street outside the bar in which he faces a second-degree murder charge.
Sadie Madalyn Cole, 21, was arraigned before Deschutes County Circuit Judge Stephen Forte on a formal indictment returned by a grand jury on Sept. 8. She is charged with hindering prosecution, a Class C felony, as well as fourth-degree assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and second-degree disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor.
Cole and Cegers were asked to leave Duda’s Billiards Bar in downtown Bend late the night of August 9 for being disruptive, authorities said. Taylor Shane Wyss, 33, of Redmond, was shot and killed on the sidewalk outside the bar around midnight.
Police said Cole, who reportedly was dating Cegers, punched a bartender and helped him leave the scene in a car. Cole late missed a court appearance, prompting issuance of an arrest warrant, but her attorney said it was a scheduling misunderstanding, not a willful absence from the court proceeding.
A nationwide manhunt for Caleb Cegers and his brother, Dahnte, also charged with hindering his brother’s prosecution, ended when they were arrested last month in Tennessee. The pair are being returned to Deschutes County to face charges.
While it seems to be taking quite a while for the brothers to be brought back to Deschutes County, District Attorney Steve Gunnels says it's not unusual, and that such prisoner transport was an even bigger issue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have been told that it takes as long as it takes," Gunnels told NewsChannel 21 last week. "We are just grateful that the transport is happening. During COVID, having a prisoner transported was a momentous challenge, so this is, for us, a positive development, however slow it seems."
