Deschutes DA confirms Bend real estate investor, developer was shot, killed in driveway of his home
(Update: Hummel confirms Peverieri shot, killed in his driveway)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Nearly a week after a 70-year-old real estate investor and developer was shot and killed in the driveway of his home just east of Bend, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel confirmed the cause of death Friday and said it “remains a very active investigation.”
“Mr. (Leonard) Peverieri was shot and killed in the driveway of his home" on Los Serranos Drive, Hummel told NewsChannel 21. "We’ve been gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses on a daily basis since the shooting.”
Deschutes County sheriff's deputies on Monday identified the homicide victim, as a friend recalled Peverieri as a successful and ambitious but gentlemanly real estate investor and developer.
Anyone with "information relevant to this case” was asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 541-693-6911. Janes also said that “Mr. Peverieri’s family is requesting privacy during this time.”
NewsChannel 21 was contacted Monday by someone who said Peverieri was a friend and former client who was a real estate investor and developer.
"Very ambitious, I would say, with his real estate investments," Jim Floyd said. "Yeah, he was very successful, just a nice gentleman."
County property tax records show Peverieri owned several properties, including his home on Los Serranos Drive, and also bought the tiny town of Millican east of Bend in 2010.
He was also a recreational marijuana producer before the Oregon Liquor Control Commission revoked his license for 13 violations in 2018.
Floyd, a real estate broker, said he sold Peverieri a home about seven years ago and they stayed in contact over the years.
“Other things he would like to do is deep sea fishing down in Mexico and so forth," Floyd said. "I know he enjoyed that. He has some family in the area. I didn’t have the privilege of knowing all of them, but I know he has a wife, a daughter, and maybe other kids that I didn’t know about, and a couple of stepkids."
The Tri-County Major Incident team, led by the sheriff’s office, was on scene throughout the day Sunday, investigating the circumstances surrounding Peverieri's death and collecting evidence.
Initially termed a suspicious death investigation, nearby residents had been advised to make sure their homes, outbuildings and vehicles were secured and report anything suspicious in the area.
Janes said deputies responded around 5:30 a.m. to the 21000 block of Los Serranos Drive, off Butler Market and Hamby roads, on a report of a deceased man.
“Upon the initial investigation, the death was determined to be suspicious,” Janes said in a brief initial news release.
In an update later Sunday, Janes said it had been determined to be a homicide but added, "Detectives do not believe there is still a suspect in the vicinity of the crime scene."
Janes had said Sunday he could not confirm police-scanner reports that a resident along the road had called 911 to report that someone was in their driveway who had been shot.
Scanner reports indicated Bend police also responded to help establish a perimeter and a K-9 team was called in. Oregon State Police and a SWAT team also went to the scene and a command post was established near Pine Nursery Park.
Officers initially were looking for a man riding a bicycle, but Janes said later they had contacted the man and that he turned out to be a neighborhood resident who was not involved.
