OREGON MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON KIDNAP ATTEMPT
CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS, 32, of Aloha, Oregon was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ten years of supervised release today by U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, for Conspiracy to Commit Kidnaping. MATTHEWS pleaded guilty on August 1, 2005, to the August 2004 attempted kidnaping of a Vancouver, Washington child. Assistant United States Attorney Mike Dion told the court, "the fortunate outcome in this case is due to some luck and an alert neighbor. Matthews was perfectly willing to terrorize and endanger an innocent family to get what he wanted."
According to court documents, MATTHEWS, and KAYSE DAY, 20, of Beaverton, Oregon, hatched a plan to kidnap the minor child of a former co-worker of DAY's at a Portland financial services firm. The pair secretly took the co-worker's house key and had a duplicate made. They rented a hotel room in Portland and bought cereal and orange juice to feed the child while they held him hostage. On the night of August 17, 2004, DAY and MATTHEWS, dressed in black and wearing masks and latex gloves, drafted a ransom note demanding $250,000. In the early morning of August 18th, DAY and MATTHEWS left the hotel room, taking duct tape to restrain the child, and kept their van running while they secretly entered the victim's Vancouver, Washington home. Fortunately, an alert neighbor, who works the night shift, saw the two skulking near the victim's home and called police. DAY and MATTHEWS were arrested after police found them inside the home.
In asking for the lengthy sentence Dion noted what could have happened but for that alert neighbor. "Matthews' plan would have resulted in a terrifying nightmare for a small (child) and (the child's) family," Dion wrote in his sentencing memorandum.
Co-Defendant KAYSE DAY will be sentenced December 2, 2005. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Clark County Sheriff's Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Dion and Tessa Gorman are prosecuting the case. For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington at (206)553-4110.
