1989 killer of Bend woman who took life sentence to avoid death penalty dies at Umatilla state prison

(Update: Gunnels comment on last year's challenge to guilt, DNA test)

UMATILLA, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Deschutes County killer who accepted a life prison term to avoid a death-penalty trial in the 1989 rape, robbery and killing of a Bend woman died Wednesday evening at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, the Oregon Department of Corrections said Thursday.

As with all in-custody deaths, the agency said Oregon State Police were notified, and the State Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death of Fort, who was 63. Fort entered DOC custody on Feb. 5, 1991, from Deschutes County with a life sentence.

Former Deschutes County prosecutor Joshua Marquis, who later served as Clatsop County district attorney, wrote about the Fort case in a 2021 guest column for The Bulletin, "Race and Justice in Deschutes County."

Marquis said one of his first cases as chief deputy DA was that of Fort, who was arrested in the November 1989 killing of Lynn Oliverio, who he said was "a Bend woman who worked downtown and whose only mistake was using that rail line as a shortcut to work."

Fort was accused of robbing, raping and murdering the woman, then fleeing by hopping on a train. "Good police work tracked down a piece of jewelry he had stolen and hocked. He was caught in the Midwest and brought back to Bend for trial," Marquis wrote.

The nature of the crime and Fort's record "clearly made Fort a good candidate for the death penalty, which Oregon had reinstated just five years earlier," Marquis said. Then-DA Mike Dugan left the decision up to Marquis, who offered Fort a life sentence to avoid the death penalty and a trial before what he wrote "without question" would have been an all-white jury.

And Deschutes County DA Steve Gunnels said the case came back to light just last year, when Fort "challenged his guilt and requested that evidence get tested for DNA."

"His DNA was identified on the victim's clothing," Gunnels said Thursday. "She was a stranger to him."

DOC said in announcing Fort's death that it "takes all in-custody deaths seriously. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of 12,000 individuals who are incarcerated in 12 institutions across the state. While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims."

TRCI is a multi-custody prison in Umatilla that houses approximately 1,800 adults in custody. TRCI participates in prison industries with Oregon Corrections Enterprises including institution and industrial laundry, mattress manufacturing, and sewing. Other institution work programs include reparation and cleaning of irrigation ditches, maintenance of local baseball fields, and work with local cities and the Hermiston School District. The facility provides a range of correctional programs and services including education, religious services, and behavioral health services. TRCI opened in 2000.