Bend man charged with murder in fatal shooting of landlord

A 34-year-old Bend man was arrested on murder, manslaughter and other charges at his northeast Bend duplex early Saturday, accused of fatally shooting his landlord, who lived next door and had been visiting him for a couple of hours, police said.

Police were dispatched just after midnight to the duplex at 20874 Northeast Nova Loop, off 18 th Street and Empire Avenue, on the reported gunshot wound, said Lt. Brian Kindel.

Arriving officers found duplex owner Andrew Steven Cordes, 30, who lived in Unit 2, dead of gunshot wounds inside unit 1, where suspect Daniel Robert Norquist lived, Kindel said.

Norquist was detained by officers upon their arrival and subsequently arrested and charged in Cordes’ murder, the lieutenant said.

In a news release, Kindel said Cordes was a “mutual acquaintance and landlord of Norquist and that he had been at Norquist’s home for over two hours prior to the shooting.”

“No information supports the public is in any danger,” Kindel added, “and the Bend Police Department does not believe there are any outstanding suspects in this case.”

Norquist was being booked into the Deschutes County Jail late Saturday afternoon on charges of murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon. He was held without bail on the murder charge, with bail on the other counts totaling $360,000.

An OSP Forensics Unit truck was parked Saturday in front of the duplex, which was marked off with crime-scene tape for much of the day as technicians gathered evidence. Neighbors declined to speak to a reporter about what was going on.

It apparently is the first homicide arrest in Bend since early 2013, when Luke Wirkkala was charged in the shooting death of house guest David Ryder Jr. after a night of Super Bowl partying. A jury rejected Wirkkala’s claims of self-defense the following January and he was sentenced to life in prison nearly a year ago.