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September 4, 2012
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Second Myrtle Creek man dies in Bandon shooting

BANDON — A second Myrtle Creek man wounded in an intrafamily shooting that began inside a vehicle and ended on the side of Highway 101 died Monday at a Portland hospital after he was taken off life-support.

Milton Chester Leach, 70, was declared brain dead Monday morning by doctors at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital. Leach continued breathing and his heart continued beating until his family decided to withdraw life-support. He died around 8:30 p.m., Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier said in a written release.

The alleged shooter of Leach and George Leo Micheaux III, 19, who died at the scene of the incident Sunday about four miles north of Bandon, was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Coos County Circuit Court in Coquille. Timothy Allen Henson, 43, is accused of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of second-degree kidnapping and a single count of second-degree assault.

The kidnapping charges were added Monday evening, Frasier said, after it was learned that two women in the vehicle were forced to go with Henson after the shootings. Ruth Sherrie Micheaux, 47, and her daughter, Vallena Ruth Tuell, 30, were found with Henson several miles north of the murder scene.

All five people in the car lived together on the same property in Myrtle Creek, Frasier said.

They were all related, but in ways so complicated that Frasier tried to clarify their relationships with a chart.

Both homicide victims, though separated by more than five decades in age, had been married to Ruth Micheaux.

Her husband was George Micheaux, who was Henson’s father-in-law, even though he was 24 years Henson’s junior.

Leach was Ruth Micheaux’s ex-husband.

Tuell, Ruth Micheaux’s daughter, is married to Henson.

“Both Ms. Micheaux and Ms. Tuell have been cooperating with the investigators,” Frasier wrote in his release. “At this time, neither Ms. Micheaux nor Ms. Tuell are considered suspects in the case.”

They traveled to Coos County for the Labor Day weekend in a car owned by Ruth Micheaux.

Frasier has not said what he believes happened to spark the shootings, which took place about 6 p.m. Sunday.

Henson allegedly shot Tuell in the forearm inside the vehicle while it was traveling north on Highway 101. The two men were shot outside the vehicle after it stopped. Leach was shot in the head, while authorities have not said where Micheaux was shot.

Tuell was shot in the forearm inside the vehicle, while the two men were shot outside the car. Tuell was treated and released Sunday evening from Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay. Leach was initially treated at Bay Area Hospital then taken later Sunday to Portland.

• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 541-957-4209 or by email at jsowell@nrtoday.com.


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The News-Review Updated Sep 4, 2012 01:20PM Published Sep 5, 2012 09:56AM Copyright 2012 The News-Review. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.