Opinion ID: 2590211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Murder of Michael O'Fallon

Text: In July 1980, Michael O'Fallon left his home in Golden, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, and hitchhiked to Canada. O'Fallon, then 17 years old, stood five feet seven inches tall and weighed 135 pounds. When he left on his trip, O'Fallon took a camera with his mother's initials, MJO, scratched on the front. About 12:10 a.m. on July 17, 1980, a passing motorist encountered O'Fallon hitchhiking on Interstate 5 in Oregon. About 5:00 a.m. that day, O'Fallon's body was found at the Talbot Road interchange with Interstate 5, some 10 miles south of Salem, Oregon. There were no clothes or identification with the body. The cause of death was ligature strangulation. A ligature consisting of a red shoelace bound O'Fallon's wrists together, while his ankles were bound by another lace. A white ligature connected the other two ligatures with O'Fallon's scrotum. Blood and fecal material were visible from a laceration to the anus. O'Fallon's blood contained alcohol (0.04 percent) and diazepam. On a number of occasions defendant's employer, Lear Siegler Corporation (Lear-Siegler), sent him to its Peerless Division in Tualitin, Oregon, to help install a computer system. Defendant worked at that location between July 16 and July 18, 1980, and rented a car for that period at the Portland airport. Defendant returned the rental car to the airport. Although the Peerless building was only 25 miles from the airport, defendant drove his rental car a distance of 993 miles between July 16 and July 18. A camera bearing the initials MJO and identified by O'Fallon's mother and brother as the camera Michael O'Fallon took with him on his trip was found in the search of defendant's garage. The prosecutor argued to the jury that the entry PORTLAND DENVER on defendant's list referred to O'Fallon.