Lampa Mtn. Murders, May 26

It was back in September of 1988. Two German citizens were hitchhiking up the Oregon Coast when two men from Jackson Co. offered them a ride in the back of their pickup truck. Little did they know it was their last ride. Twenty-four year old Unna Tuxen and 22-year old Katherine Reith were driven east off of Hwy. 101 at Bandon onto Hwy. 42S. The truck turned onto Lampa Mtn. Road and near the top the two men from the Phoenix/Medford area drove up a logging road. The two women had to be scared knowing they were further away from their journey’s path and closer to danger. Jeffrey Ray Williams and David Lynn Simonsen raped the two women and then used a shotgun blast to end their lives. Guilt over what they did eventually led to their capture as one confessed. The two were sentenced to Death Row at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. Then the legal appeal process kicked in and the clock ticked. Williams eventually died of natural causes in prison in September of 2020. Simonsen remains on Death Row. However, according to a news release from Coos Co. District Attorney R. Paul Frasier, “during the 2019 Legislative Session, the Oregon Legislature changed the definition of aggravated murder. Aggravated murder no longer includes the murder of two of more people in the same criminal episode. Instead, such murders are now classified as Murder in the First Degree. The death penalty is not available for First Degree Murder.” The change was “retroactive to any case that was sent back to trial court for any reason.” Simonsen’s case was vacated on May 20, 2022 by a Marion County Circuit Court at Salem. “As a result, Mr. Simonsen will be resentenced without the death penalty being an option.” The new sentencing for Simonsen is set for Monday, June 13, 2022, 3 p.m., Coos Co. Circuit Court, Coquille.