Bend Police, assisted by the CERT (Central Oregon Emergency Response Team), arrested two suspects in the August 15, 2020 murder of Ray Atkinson, Junior and Natasha Newby. Kenneth Atkinson, 54-year-old Bend resident, and Nathan Shane Detroit, 31-year-old Redmond resident, were arrested and jailed on no-bail warrants. Kenneth and Nathan each face the following charges; two counts of Murder in the first degree and two counts of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the first degree, according to a news release from the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office.
Kenneth Atkinson is the brother of Ray Atkinson, Junior. The State alleges he killed Ray and Natasha because of his dispute with Ray over their father’s estate. Ken was the mastermind of these murders and he was assisted by Nathan, his nephew. Kenneth and Nathan are presumed innocent of these crimes, and in fact, are innocent of them, unless and until the State proves their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The first court appearance for Detroit and Atkinson is Monday, October 4 at 1:30 pm.
Statement from District Attorney Hummel to the residents of Deschutes County: “Ray and Natasha’s families have been waiting 14 months for the arrest of the killers of their loved ones. I committed to working tirelessly on this case until we had sufficient evidence to move forward. Thanks to the dogged work of Bend Police Detectives, the Oregon State Police Crime Lab, and the deputy district attorneys and trial assistants in my office, we secured sufficient evidence to prove who committed these crimes and how they committed these crimes.”
Statement from the Bend Police Department Chief Mike Krantz: “I am hopeful that this arrest will bring a small measure of closure and peace to the family and friends of Ray and Natasha. The investigators in this case who have spent and committed nearly every day since August 15, 2020, working on bringing justice for the killings of Ray and Natasha wrote over 50 search warrants for evidence, wrote over 380 police reports and collected nearly 500 pieces of evidence. The Bend Police Department has relied upon the collaborative partnership we have with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office and numerous area law enforcement agencies that assisted in some way to conduct this thorough investigation and we are grateful for their committed partnerships.”
