02/13/2007

Associated Press

Two convicted killers crushed a fellow inmate's skull and stabbed him more than 80 times because they believed he was an informant for Oregon State Penitentiary officials, a prosecutor said in his opening statement at the murder trial for both men.

Prosecutor Don Abar of Marion County also told jurors that DNA tests link Gary Haugen, 45, and Jason Brumwell, 31, to prison clothes stained with the blood of slain inmate David Polin, who died Sept. 2, 2003.

Polin, 31, was behind bars for paralyzing a gang rival in a Washington County shooting. He was sentenced in June 1997 to 15 years in prison for attempted murder, assault and weapons charges.

Polin died in an activities area used for counseling sessions and club meetings. A motive for his death was not revealed until Monday.

Abar said Oregon State Police detectives found three murder weapons: two homemade prison knives and a large steel screw.

Defense lawyer Mark Brownlee, representing Brumwell, suggested in his opening statement that Polin had many enemies within the 2,300-inmate prison because he was known as an unreliable supplier of drugs.

"People weren't getting what they thought they were getting," he said.

Defense lawyer Steven Krasik, representing Haugen, deferred his opening statement until later. The trial is expected to last about five weeks and prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty.

Haugen, and Brumwell are already serving life sentences. Haugen got his sentence for the 1981 slaying of his ex-girlfriend's mother in Portland. Haugen made news in 1999 when he volunteered to donate half of his liver to save his dying sister in Wyoming. Oregon prison officials allowed Haugen to undergo blood testing to determine if he was a good donor match. The testing ruled him out.

Brumwell was one of five men sent to prison for their roles in the 1994 killing of a convenience store clerk in Eugene, and a near-fatal attack on a second clerk.

Abar said Haugen, Brumwell and Polin were all involved in prison drug activity. About a week before Polin's death, Abar said, prison officials sent an inmate to disciplinary segregation after he tested positive for drug use. Abar said the inmate suspected Polin of being an informant, and directed allies to "get Polin."

Moreover, two days before Polin was attacked, prison officers ordered Haugen and Brumwell to undergo a drug test, which angered them, Abar said.

Abar added that Polin wasn't the informant: "It was another inmate."

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Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com