Bend Police release new info in fatal attack on homeless man; murder suspect arraigned; public asked to help find blanket

(Update: Police release details; Wynn arraigned; adding comments from Bend PD, friend of suspect)

Suspect's friend says she's never see him be aggressive, 'unless he was having mental illness problems'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Police revealed more details Monday about the killing of a 62-year-old homeless Bend man whose body was found last Thursday at his campsite behind a gas station on North Highway 97, leading to the arrest late Friday of another homeless man in the fatal attack, which included stab wounds. They also asked the public for help finding a blanket the suspect was wearing around that time.

Police were called around 9:25 a.m. last Thursday to the 3300 block of North U.S. Highway 97 for a welfare check, Communications Manager Sheila Miller said.

Someone had gone to check on David Carroll Hickman, 62, at his campsite on property behind the Pacific Pride gas station and found him unresponsive, she said.

Police called to the scene “determined his death was suspicious,” Miller said, and the department’s investigative unit was called in, canvassing area businesses for witnesses and video surveillance.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Friday and determined that “Hickman died as a result of multiple injuries, including stab wounds,” Miller said. The death was determined to have taken place late Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning.

Miller said “the autopsy determined that Mr. Hickman had a variety of injuries, including stab wounds that contributed to his death and at that point, we determined that this was a homicide.”

Investigators used video surveillance to determine that Brian Lee Wynn, 31, also of Bend, had been with Hickman the night of the killing and was a “person of interest” in the case, the police spokeswoman said.

Miller told NewsChannel 21, "We had been able to use a lot of video surveillance to determine that the suspect in this case, a person of interest, was Mr. Wynn, who had been with the victim in the hours leading up to his death."

Officers located Wynn shortly after 4 p.m. Friday near NE Second Street and Emerson Avenue and took him into custody without incident, Miller said. He was brought first to the Bend Police headquarters, then to the Deschutes County Jail, where he was booked on second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.

Miller told NewsChannel 21 that while "stab wounds contributed to his (Hickman's) death ... there were other injuries" that she couldn't share more details about at this time.

"The relationship between the two and what may have sparked this incident is still under investigation," Miller added.

Bend Police continue to investigate, Miller said, and are seeking the public’s help in finding a blanket that may have evidence related to the homicide. They released a photo of the blanket, which was worn by Wynn around the time Hickman was killed. Whoever finds the blanket is asked to call Detective Chad Owens at (541) 728-1242.

“We think that it could have evidence of Mr. Hickman's homicide on it,” Miller said.

Wynn remains held without bail after Monday afternoon's brief arraignment by video from the jail on charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.

Circuit Judge Alycia Sykora asked Wynn if he received the court filing and his name was spelled correctly. "Indeed," he replied.

Murder is "not a bailable offense," the prosecutor in court said, and Sykora continued Wynn's hold without bail, scheduling his return to court in a week for arraignment on an expected grand jury indictment.

The two felony counts were filed Monday morning against Wynn, who listed his address as The Lighthouse Navigation Center operated by Shepherd's House. A court clerk approved his request for a court-appointed attorney. The Lighthouse facility declined to comment Monday on Wynn's arrest, citing the ongoing investigation.

Details of the case were not discussed in court Monday, but the district attorney's initial charging document alleges Wynn committed the crimes on or about last Wednesday. The charge of unlawful use of a weapon indicates a knife was used in the crime.

Outside the courtroom, a friend of Wynn, Mary Farmer, said “I've never seen him be aggressive with anybody. I've never seen him cuss anybody out. I've never seen him hit anybody. I've never seen any of that before, so I'm really shocked this is happening."

"I've never seen him be aggressive - unless he was having mental illness problems," she added. "He's always been very nice. He'll give you the shirt off his back to help you.” 

Wynn also listed the address of The Lighthouse Navigation Center on NE Second Street, operated by Shepherd’s House Ministries, when he was arrested in early March on charges of third-degree escape and second-degree disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.

The charge of escaping from custody was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and received a five-day jail sentence, admitting he “unlawfully and recklessly created a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm by obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic on a public way.”

About a year earlier, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to second-degree disorderly conduct for “engaging in fighting or violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior” and was sentenced to five days in jail and a year probation, also required to undergo mental health evaluation and treatment. That sentence was amended this March for violating probation and led to another five-day jail term.

In 2021, when Wynn was charged with giving false information to a police officer, a judge found him unable to aid and assist in his own defense and "a danger to self or others as a result of a qualifying mental disorder," and committed him to the Oregon State Hospital for treatment; the charge was dismissed.

Eight years ago, while living in Redmond, the then-23-year-old Wynn was arrested by Redmond police in a guns-drawn “high risk” traffic stop near Umatilla Park, at the wheel of a car stolen hours earlier. Three months later, he entered an Alford plea, which is a conditional guilty plea without admitting to a crime, and received an 18-month prison term.