Caleb Cegers’ murder trial postponed to April in 2023 downtown Bend shooting of Taylor Wyss
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The trial of Bend murder suspect Caleb Cegers has been pushed back another three months, to early April, at the request of both the prosecution and defense.
Cegers, now 22, wearing glasses and a small beard, appeared by video Monday from the Deschutes County Jail, where he’s been held without bail since his East Coast capture and arrest in the August 2023 fatal shooting of Taylor Wyss, 33, of Redmond on the sidewalk outside a downtown Bend bar.
Deschutes County Circuit Judge Beth Bagley, who a year ago had delayed the 10-day jury trial by a year, rescheduled the trial to begin on Tuesday, April 7th.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a mid-December joint motion for trial postponement that was granted by Bagley. In their request for a delay, defense attorney Bryan Boender and Deputy District Attorney Brooks McClain said the defense attorneys' investigation was not finished and that they had provided new evidence to prosecutors that they need to analyze and investigate.
Boender also filed a supporting declaration, stating, “The defense is also still conducting its investigation and locating witnesses that were never interviewed by law enforcement, nor the prior defense team.”
It’s the third trial postponement in the case of Cegers, who pleaded not guilty in January 2024 to second-degree murder, first-degree assault and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
The judge on Monday agreed to the April 7 trial date proposed by both sides in the case. She also set a March 16 date for a trial readiness hearing, when she will also consider several pending defense motions, as well as whether Cegers has to wear restraints during the trial. Any new motions must be filed by Jan. 30, Bagley said, and each side has until Feb. 13 to respond.
Cegers' older brother, Dahnte Cegers, now 27, pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution in the case and was sentenced to nearly four months in jail, with credit for time served, and three years probation, court records show.
Last year, he was arrested again and later pleaded guilty to a second-degree disorderly conduct charge after getting into a fight with three others outside Vector Volcano in downtown Bend. He was sentenced to a 10-day jail term, with credit for time already served.
