14 DAY TRIAL // 24-year-old Jonathan Holt is being arraigned on seven counts for the murder of 21-year-old barista Whitney Heichel.
According to Oregon Live, court documents reveal that the man kidnapped, abused and robbed the young woman from Clackamas County, before shooting her four times.
He is being charged with aggravated murder, which can be considered a murderous act committed in order to conceal other crimes. In this case, it could be that the man was trying to eliminate any evidence of rape and robbery.
Holt shed exactly one tar during the first court appearance. He gave short, yes and no answers to the prosecution's questions.
Apparently, the man confessed to Sgt. Jon Harrington of the Oregon State Police that he murdered Whitney. He admitted to having asked her for a ride on her way to work, outside of the Heatherwood Apartments in Gresham, on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Five minutes into the drive, he pulled a gun and threatened her life if she didn't let him drive them to Roslyn Lake in Clackamas County. Once there, he abused and shot her. He then moved her body to Larch Mountain, and threw his cell phone into the lake, to avoid discovery.
Late Friday afternoon, a search party found Whitney's body. It wasn't hard for investigators to link the murder to Holt, as DNA evidence was recovered from the steering wheel of her Ford Explorer. The car had been found at the Wood Village Wal-Mart, the same day she disappeared, by members of the Jehovah's witnesses, the church that the girl belonged to.
Holt is also a Jehovah's Witness, who attended church from time to time. He wed girlfriend, Amanda Adams, at Kingdom Hall in Gresham in March 2010. Apart from that, the man was quite recluse, mostly keeping to himself.
"He seemed like such a shy and quiet guy and it's shocking to hear what he is accused of. Definitely something I didn't expect," one former classmate said.