Forest Grove homicide made to look like suicide

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- A Forest Grove woman found dead earlier this month may have been the victim of a killer who manipulated the scene to look like a suicide.

And a fugitive captured this week may have been involved in the death, according to police.

Joshua David "Clay" Nicholas, who was captured Monday in Yamhill County after a manhunt, was being connected by investigators to the Nov. 7 death of 47-year-old Lori Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was found dead in her home on Sycamore Court on November 7.  According to the Forest Grove Police Department, the circumstances of her death appeared "highly suspicious" to the investigators who repsonded that Saturday afternoon. Fitzgerald, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained my Newschannel 8 and KGW.com, was found "hanging from a rafter in the garage by an orange electrical cord that was tied around her neck."

Investigators think her death was made to look like a suicide.

The Forest Grove Police Department has named Nicholas as a person of interest in the crime, but his actual involvment in Fitzgerald's death is being witheld.  Chief of Police Kerry Aleshire will only say Nicholas was an acquaintance of Fitzgerald and was likely one of the last people to see her alive.

"At some point he was inside.  We believe he was inside the day that she passed on," says Aleshire.

Fitzgerald's death was made to appear as a suicide, but the forensics found at the scene didn't match the act. According to the obtained affidavit, "ligature marks on the neck (were) inconsistent with the current application of the electrical cord." Fitzgerald's head had injuries consistent with blunt force trauma and a large pool of blood was found near her on the floor.  It was determined by investigators that the, "traumatic injuries to Lori Fitzgerald (were) inconsistent with suicide by hanging."

U.S. Marshals arrested Nicholas after police and Washington County sheriffs spent time tracking him down through Cornelius and Hillsboro. While he has not been charged in the Fitzgerald case, police believe he was indeed involved and expect charges could be sought within a week.

The suspect was driving a stolen SUV, which he later abandoned.

Authorities had warned citizens that Nicholas was considered armed and dangerous would rather get into a shootout than go to jail.

Nicholas has two outstanding warrants in the Portland area for drugs and auto theft, Thompson said, adding he'd been arrested more than 45 times in his life.