Bend man pleads guilty in 2020 murder-for-hire killing of Bend couple; his uncle got a 25-year prison term
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Bend man facing two counts of murder and conspiracy in the 2020 murder-for-hire deaths of a couple at their northeast Bend home has pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter and is expected to receive a 20-year prison sentence.
Last week's plea deal comes less than a month after Nathan Shane Detroit’s uncle, Kenneth Wayne Atkinson, also pleaded guilty to the same crimes and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Atkinson, now 61, and his nephew Detroit, now 35, were arrested in October of 2021 on murder and conspiracy charges in the August 2020 killing of Atkinson’s younger brother, Ray Atkinson Jr., 34, and his fiancé, Natasha “Tasha” Newby, 29.
The couple’s bodies were found in the basement of their Northeast 12th Street home by a concerned friend and relative checking on their welfare. Authorities said they died of blunt force trauma.
Atkinson pleaded guilty March 20 to four of the six felony charges – two counts each of first-degree manslaughter and conspiracy to commit murder - and his nephew has now done the same.
Detroit was scheduled for an eight-week jury trial that was to begin June 15. Instead, he will be sentenced on April 29.
Under a manslaughter charge, defendants admit acting "unlawfully and recklessly, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
In a note sent to the victims’ families, DA’s office Victims’ Advocate Keaton Boileau noted that Detroit will be able to earn “good time,” which potentially could reduce his sentence by two years.
Regarding the plea deal, he wrote, “This is not something our office took lightly,” but said pretrial issues, potential rulings, defense attorneys’ strategy and possible appeals were factors in the decision.
“This resolution provides finality, and it doesn’t come back in a couple years to get retried,” Boileau wrote.
