09/23/2002

By Kyle Iboshi and Abe Estimada, KGW Staff

A Clackamas County grand jury will convene this week to consider charges against Ward Weaver in connection with the slayings of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, KGW has learned.

The move may be the first step in charging Weaver for the deaths of Ashley and Miranda.

Last Thursday, an officer served Steve Hopkins, the landlord of Weaver’s rental home, with a subpoena to appear before a grand jury.

“He didn’t tell me how long I would be there for,” he told KGW. “I asked him how long the grand jury would meet, and he said maybe three days

Ward Weaver. (Police/KGW Photo)

Clackamas County prosecutors have not said if they'll seek the death penalty against Weaver if he is charged in the girls' homicides. Clackamas County authorities have not said when exactly the grand jury will convene.

“We’re not commenting on when it start, or if it starts, or when it’s going to be finished,” said Greg Horner, chief deputy district attorney for Clackamas County.

Weaver was arrested last month for allegedly raping his son’s fiancé. A distraught Francis Weaver called 911 dispatchers and said his father told him that he had raped and killed the two girls. However, Weaver has not been charged in their deaths.

Weaver is now lodged at the Clackamas County Jail in Oregon City.

Weaver’s daughter, Mallori, was best friends with Ashley. Ashley usually hung out at Weaver’s house, which is close to the apartment complex where her and Miranda lived.

Relatives and friends of Ashley later said Weaver had an unusual, if not inappropriate, interest in the girl.

But last summer, Ashley told a teacher and other adults that Weaver had sexually abused her. Charges were never leveled against Weaver because authorities failed to investigate the allegations, prompting an investigation by the state.

After Ashley disappeared January 9 and Miranda vanished March 8, Weaver told a Portland Tribune newspaper that the FBI had identified him as its prime suspect. Weaver also told reporters that police said he had miserably failed a polygraph test.

Weaver’s arrest Aug. 13 on unrelated rape charges broke the cases of the missing Oregon City girls. After obtaining search warrants and permission from Weaver himself, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Oregon City police began searching for the remains of Ashley and Miranda on Aug. 25.

Later that day, investigators found Miranda’s corpse stuff inside a box placed on the floor of an old shed behind Weaver’s rental home. The next day, authorities dug underneath a concrete slab poured recently in the backyard by Weaver and found Ashley’s remains in a barrel.

Crews leveled Weaver's rental house last week to help the community heal and move on from the tragedy of Ashley and Miranda.