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BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — Investigators say a man sought in Portland-area fraud cases is the same person who was involved in a shocking Salem murder more than a decade ago.
Washington County Detective Kip Branch told the (Salem) Statesman Journal newspaper that Jonathan Dominic Coons, 28, appears to be the same person convicted of the 1994 slaying. At that time, he was known as Jonathan Dominic Holmes.
On Sept. 21, 1994, Mary Jane (Coons) Holmes was stabbed almost 30 times as she walked along a gravel path near her home. It was a headline-grabbing murder that unleashed fears that a random killer had struck and could strike again.
But investigators gathered evidence suggesting that Jonathan Holmes, a popular soccer player at South Salem High School, killed his mother.
Two weeks after the killing, the 16-year-old was pulled from his chemistry class and arrested. Classmates professed their belief in his innocence, but Holmes later confessed in juvenile court and was committed to the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn.
He narrowly avoided being prosecuted under Measure 11, the law voters approved in November 1994 that set long, non-negotiable sentences for violent crimes committed by people 15 years and older.
Holmes, who would have received a 25-year sentence under Measure 11, was freed on his 21st birthday in 1999.
Investigators said Tuesday that Coons’ most recent known residence was in Beaverton, where he lived with Jaime Lyn Bacon, 26. Portland Police Officer Barbara Glass said she is seeking to arrest the pair in connection with a $12,000 fraud scheme at a Nordstrom store.
Glass said an informant told her that Bacon is the girlfriend of Dominic Coons, and Coons used to be known as Dominic Holmes. “They provided the date of his birth, and they gave me a little bit of history behind him and his mother,” she said.
Branch said Bacon was recently indicted on federal bank fraud charges stemming from stolen IDs and counterfeit checks cashed at two Washington County banks. As part of his investigation, Branch said he is trying to determine whether Coons played a role in the scheme that netted nearly $10,000.
“We are definitely seeking both of them,” Branch said. “Miss Bacon’s got a federal warrant for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, and Mr. Coons is at the very least a person of interest in the exact same case, as well as the cases that are being worked over in Multnomah County.”
Washington County Detective Kip Branch told the (Salem) Statesman Journal newspaper that Jonathan Dominic Coons, 28, appears to be the same person convicted of the 1994 slaying. At that time, he was known as Jonathan Dominic Holmes.
On Sept. 21, 1994, Mary Jane (Coons) Holmes was stabbed almost 30 times as she walked along a gravel path near her home. It was a headline-grabbing murder that unleashed fears that a random killer had struck and could strike again.
But investigators gathered evidence suggesting that Jonathan Holmes, a popular soccer player at South Salem High School, killed his mother.
Two weeks after the killing, the 16-year-old was pulled from his chemistry class and arrested. Classmates professed their belief in his innocence, but Holmes later confessed in juvenile court and was committed to the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn.
He narrowly avoided being prosecuted under Measure 11, the law voters approved in November 1994 that set long, non-negotiable sentences for violent crimes committed by people 15 years and older.
Holmes, who would have received a 25-year sentence under Measure 11, was freed on his 21st birthday in 1999.
Investigators said Tuesday that Coons’ most recent known residence was in Beaverton, where he lived with Jaime Lyn Bacon, 26. Portland Police Officer Barbara Glass said she is seeking to arrest the pair in connection with a $12,000 fraud scheme at a Nordstrom store.
Glass said an informant told her that Bacon is the girlfriend of Dominic Coons, and Coons used to be known as Dominic Holmes. “They provided the date of his birth, and they gave me a little bit of history behind him and his mother,” she said.
Branch said Bacon was recently indicted on federal bank fraud charges stemming from stolen IDs and counterfeit checks cashed at two Washington County banks. As part of his investigation, Branch said he is trying to determine whether Coons played a role in the scheme that netted nearly $10,000.
“We are definitely seeking both of them,” Branch said. “Miss Bacon’s got a federal warrant for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, and Mr. Coons is at the very least a person of interest in the exact same case, as well as the cases that are being worked over in Multnomah County.”
