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Michael Shane Smith was fatally shot in a Sutherlin home June 19.
SUTHERLIN — A man who shot and killed an intruder inside his Mardonna Way home in the middle of the night last week indicated to police and his wife that the trespasser beat him up and he acted in self-defense, according to a court document.
Keith Robert Cramer, 34, made several statements to police similar to, “He beat me up, so I shot him. This is my house. He’s an intruder,” according to the warrant police obtained from a Douglas County Circuit Court judge Thursday to search the 215 Mardonna Way house.
With Cramer detained following the 3 a.m. shooting, two Sutherlin police officers entered the home and found Michael Shane Smith, 35, dead on the couch.
Smith was “lying on his side with his feet propped up on the couch, facing the center of the living room,” according to the search warrant affidavit filed in court Tuesday. He appeared to have been shot in the upper chest, according to the affidavit. Police believe Cramer used a high-powered hunting rifle.
Police had been called to the home early that morning after Cramer’s wife, Christy, discovered an unknown man passed out on her couch. She grabbed her young daughter and left the home, heading to a nearby bar to retrieve Keith Cramer, according to police.
When they returned, Christy Cramer followed her husband into the home to get a phone while their daughter waited in the car. Christy Cramer told police she heard her husband shouting something to the man on the couch, according to the affidavit.
She walked outside and called 911, heard more yelling, then a gunshot. The woman went back inside the house and asked her husband what happened. She told police her husband replied something similar to, “I killed him; it was self-defense.”
Keith Cramer, according to police, called 911 to report the shooting. Police arrived seven minutes after the initial 911 call.
Officers arrived at the house and approached with their weapons drawn. They found Christy Cramer and a neighbor waving them over. Keith Cramer then stepped outside with the rifle, which he propped up against the side of the house. Police detained the man, at which point he explained that he’d shot an intruder, according to the affidavit.
On Monday, Cramer’s attorney, Danny Lang, said Smith had made “sudden aggressive movements” toward his client before the shooting and that Cramer feared for his own safety and his family’s safety.
No charges have been filed against Cramer, and Lang said it appears the man was acting in self-defense.
Meanwhile, family members and friends of Smith, an Alaska resident who was in Sutherlin to care for his dying mother, are mourning his death.
A friend on Monday said she had gone out with Smith to a bar Wednesday evening. She said he drank heavily that night and may have been disoriented by the time he tried to make his way home by foot. Another friend last saw him about 45 minutes before the shooting near Bi-Mart, a couple blocks away from the Mardonna Way home, said Stacie Lyons of Sutherlin.
Smith and Cramer are reported to have both been at Vera’s Tavern that night, but initial reports indicate they did not know one another.
Smith, who was a cook in Alaska, is survived by two children and his wife, according to friends and family.
An autopsy was conducted on Smith last week, but the results have not been released. Toxicology tests results could take several weeks to return.
A Douglas County grand jury is expected to hear the case and decide whether a crime was committed.
• You can reach reporter Chelsea Duncan at 957-4246 or by e-mail at cduncan@nrtoday.com.
Keith Robert Cramer, 34, made several statements to police similar to, “He beat me up, so I shot him. This is my house. He’s an intruder,” according to the warrant police obtained from a Douglas County Circuit Court judge Thursday to search the 215 Mardonna Way house.
With Cramer detained following the 3 a.m. shooting, two Sutherlin police officers entered the home and found Michael Shane Smith, 35, dead on the couch.
Smith was “lying on his side with his feet propped up on the couch, facing the center of the living room,” according to the search warrant affidavit filed in court Tuesday. He appeared to have been shot in the upper chest, according to the affidavit. Police believe Cramer used a high-powered hunting rifle.
Police had been called to the home early that morning after Cramer’s wife, Christy, discovered an unknown man passed out on her couch. She grabbed her young daughter and left the home, heading to a nearby bar to retrieve Keith Cramer, according to police.
When they returned, Christy Cramer followed her husband into the home to get a phone while their daughter waited in the car. Christy Cramer told police she heard her husband shouting something to the man on the couch, according to the affidavit.
She walked outside and called 911, heard more yelling, then a gunshot. The woman went back inside the house and asked her husband what happened. She told police her husband replied something similar to, “I killed him; it was self-defense.”
Keith Cramer, according to police, called 911 to report the shooting. Police arrived seven minutes after the initial 911 call.
Officers arrived at the house and approached with their weapons drawn. They found Christy Cramer and a neighbor waving them over. Keith Cramer then stepped outside with the rifle, which he propped up against the side of the house. Police detained the man, at which point he explained that he’d shot an intruder, according to the affidavit.
On Monday, Cramer’s attorney, Danny Lang, said Smith had made “sudden aggressive movements” toward his client before the shooting and that Cramer feared for his own safety and his family’s safety.
No charges have been filed against Cramer, and Lang said it appears the man was acting in self-defense.
Meanwhile, family members and friends of Smith, an Alaska resident who was in Sutherlin to care for his dying mother, are mourning his death.
A friend on Monday said she had gone out with Smith to a bar Wednesday evening. She said he drank heavily that night and may have been disoriented by the time he tried to make his way home by foot. Another friend last saw him about 45 minutes before the shooting near Bi-Mart, a couple blocks away from the Mardonna Way home, said Stacie Lyons of Sutherlin.
Smith and Cramer are reported to have both been at Vera’s Tavern that night, but initial reports indicate they did not know one another.
Smith, who was a cook in Alaska, is survived by two children and his wife, according to friends and family.
An autopsy was conducted on Smith last week, but the results have not been released. Toxicology tests results could take several weeks to return.
A Douglas County grand jury is expected to hear the case and decide whether a crime was committed.
• You can reach reporter Chelsea Duncan at 957-4246 or by e-mail at cduncan@nrtoday.com.
