09/02/2002

By AMY PALANUK, kgw.com Staff

A man has been charged with aggravated murder and rape in an attack on a pair of Roman Catholic nuns, police said Monday.

"We were lead to the suspect late last night in a local motel,” Klamath County Deputy District Attorney Mike Swanson said Monday.

Maximilano Selario Esparza, 32, was taken to Klamath Falls police department for questioning.

Maximilano Selario Esparza in this photo provided by police. (KGW Photo)

“Based upon that interview and evidence gathered throughout the day, he was arrested,” said Swanson.

Esparza is charged with several counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, rape, sexual abuse, sodomy, kidnapping and assault. He is lodged at the Klamath County jail without bail.

Swanson credited the description the nun who survived the attack provided as helping lead to an arrest.

It was not clear whether Esparza, a transient who arrived in Klamath Falls last week on a train from Portland, was wanted in connection with any other crimes.

The nuns were attacked early Sunday morning along this bike path in Klamath Falls. (KGW Photo)

Klamath County District Attorney Ed Caleb said Esparza had just left "the only strip joint in Klamath Falls" before he attacked the women.

“(He) then came down there, ran into them, attacked them, beat them severely to weaken them, then proceeded to sexually assault both of them, and we believe strangle one of them,” said Caleb.

The attack happened early Sunday morning just after midnight. The two nuns were out, reciting the Rosary as they walked along the bike path near Kiger Stadium in Klamath Falls, police said.

One of the nuns, Sister Helen Lynn Chaska, 53, died as a result of the injuries. The other nun, who was not identified by KGW because she is an apparent rape victim, was treated at Merle West Medical Center and released.

"It's an extremely heinous crime," Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said Sunday. "It's unbelievable. It's sickening."

The suspect may have been intoxicated during the attack, Swanson said, due to the description the surviving nun gave.

Blood stained the path near Kiger Stadium in Klamath Falls Sunday. (KGW Photo)

The nun called 911 at approximately 2:16 a.m., almost two hours after the women were first attacked, police said.

Both nuns were from Bellevue, Wash. They were in Klamath County on missionary work. A description of their mission in Klamath Falls was not released.

The bike path the women were walking on runs along an irrigation canal through Klamath Falls.

"They were taking a walk on a bike path, staying at a hotel that's close to that. Someone came along on a bicycle, jumped them and attacked them,” Klamath County District Attorney Ed Caleb said.

The women were from the order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Bellevue.

(AP also contributed to this article)