10/11/2002

By KELLY LOVE and JIM PARKER, KGW Staff

Gresham police are investigating whether Francis Weaver, the son of accused child killer Ward Weaver, made death threats against other family members.

Investigators said Friday they plan to question Francis Weaver about reported threats to kill his aunt and uncle. The couple may also go to court next week to seek a restraining order against him, police said.

Francis Weaver. (Portland Tribune Photo)

"The allegation is that a subject, Francis Weaver, made death threats to his uncle, Ramon Quintero," Gresham police officer Grant McCormick told KGW.

Ramon and Teresa Quintero are currently the legal guardians of Ward Weaver’s 12-year-old daughter, Mallori.

Francis’ sister had been living with her father until his arrest over the summer.

Mallori was also friends with Ashley and Miranda, whose bodies were found in Ward Weaver’s backyard in August.

"Our officer did talk to Teresa (Quintero), saying that (Francis) Weaver had made other threats at different times,” McCormick said. “A lot of these problems may have stemmed from the original arrest of his father.”

Ward Weaver. (KGW Photo/police mugshot)

Francis told dispatchers on the day of the alleged rape that his father had admitted to him that he killed Ashley and Miranda.

The younger Weaver said at the time that his father “needs to be brought to justice.”

In an interview with CNN’s Connie Chung, Francis Weaver said he believed “without a doubt” his dad killed Ashley and Miranda.

(CNN Photo)

"It was inevitable," he told ABC’s Good Morning America. "My father probably knew that I was to come forward, and he just did that as a grand finale to his sick scheme."

"I'm sorry that any of this even happened," Francis Weaver said during the ABC interview." "I hope that now that (the girls' families) have closure and everything, they can go on with their lives and live their lives as good as the can."

But Francis Weaver also has a criminal history of his own. He lived in Shoshone, Idaho, for a period of time and police there knew him well.

Back in the 1990’s, he got into trouble with the law when he was involved in a fight between two groups of teens.

"Francis took a rifle with him and when he was drawing the weapon out of the vehicle, he shot one of his friends,” recalled Shoshone Police Chief Robert Quiroga.

As part of his probation, Francis Weaver was ordered to move back to Oregon. His girlfriend also moved with him. She is the same woman Ward Weaver is accused of raping.

Francis declined to comment to KGW on the death threat allegations made to police by his relatives.

Authorities have said violence appears to run in the Weaver family. Francis' father Ward had a history of violence, substance abuse and attacks on young girls stretching to the 1980s.

Her body was found in 1982 buried beneath a concrete foundation for a deck at his home in Oroville, Calif.

The eldest Weaver currently sits on California's death row awaiting execution.