Second suspect appears in court, not-guilty pleas entered in 2022 kidnapping, fatal shooting of Madras man
(Update: Suspect appears in court; not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf)
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Madras man who was serving time in a California prison on drug crimes appeared in court Monday after being returned to Central Oregon to face murder, kidnap and other charges, the second person accused in the September 2022 fatal shooting of a Madras man who authorities had listed as missing and endangered.
Detectives from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police transported Victor Manuel Romero Jr., 27, from California’s Corcoran State Prison to the Jefferson County Jail on Friday, Crook County District Attorney Kari Hathorn said Sunday.
Romero and previously arrested co-defendant Audrey Hahn, 33, of Bend, were indicted on three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree kidnapping and unlawful use of a weapon in the killing of Thomas Patrick Nielson, 61.
Romero appeared by video Monday afternoon from the Madras jail before Crook County Circuit Judge Wade Whiting, who entered not-guilty pleas on Romero's behalf to the nine felony charges.
The judge also directed the Oregon Public Defense Commission to locate a court-appointed defense attorney for Romero and agreed to prosecutors' request that he remain held without bail and set a status-check hearing for Dec. 11.
Romero also requested that a Spanish-language interpreter be provided for future court dates.
Hathorn explained Sunday that the multiple counts of murder and kidnapping each “outline different factors and legal theories of the crimes.”
The same month Nielson was killed, Romero Jr. was arrested in California on unrelated drug charges, Hathorn said.
Hahn, also former Madras and Redmond resident, was arrested in September 2023 and pleaded not guilty to the murder and kidnap charges.
Hathorn also revealed more details of the pair’s alleged crimes in a news release Sunday announcing the second arrest in the case.
Nielson was listed as a missing and endangered person in September 2022, shortly after his mobile home on the Culver Highway in Madras was destroyed by fire. At the time, Jefferson County fire officials said the owner or occupant of the unoccupied mobile home was unknown and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
The subsequent homicide investigation found that Hahn and Romero Jr. drove to Nielson’s home on Sept. 8, 2022, then assaulted and abducted him, the DA said.
The pair “drove him to a location in Crook County off Lone Pine Road, where Romero and Hahn shot Nielson multiple times,” Hathorn said. “Nielson’s body was found on the private property a year later, on September 9, 2023.”
Hahn was scheduled to go on trial next February, but her defense attorney filed a motion in August requesting a delay. She noted the “five different theories of murder” prosecutors had filed, the numerous witnesses – some out of state, some transient - and the “voluminous” amount of evidence in the case to review.
Judge Daina Vitolins agreed to postpone Hahn's trial, with no new date set, and scheduled a status-check hearing for next Feb. 24.
