Edward Delon Warren (1953 – 2003) was an American
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
and criminal. A robber and burglar, Warren was convicted for the 1979 double murder of a couple in
Brookings, Oregon and
sentenced to death.
The sentence was later commuted to two
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
terms, which he served until his death in 2003. Five years later, he would be linked an unsolved 1976
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
murder which, at the time, was the oldest solved
cold case in the state's history.
Early life and crimes
Little is known about Warren's upbringing. Hailing from Brookings, he was the older of two siblings. His first recorded crime occurred in January 1972, when he robbed a convenience store in Portland. Edward was imprisoned for the crime, but managed to escape within the next year and travel to Salem. There, he broke into the house of a local woman, tying her up at gunpoint and stealing her car, before being quickly reapprehended. Between December 1973 and March 24, 1976, he remained behind bars.
[
]
Murders
Rosa Cinnamon
On the morning of March 24, 1976, Warren was paroled and hitched a ride to Portland, where he was required to check in with his parole officer. During the visit, he claimed that he planned to study at Portland Community College and to live at a residence hotel in the northern part of the city.[ At some point during the night, Warren was presumably looking for a place to burgle, before picking the apartment of 80-year-old ]Dayton
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
native Rosa Cinnamon as his target. He kicked the door in, and started fighting with the elderly woman, receiving several scratches from the ordeal. Despite her efforts, Cinnamon was overpowered, beaten and finally strangled to death. Her lifeless body was found the next day, but since no suspect could be located, the case quickly went cold, and would remain that way for three decades.[
]
Ricky Hemphill and Charla Toma
On September 9, 1979, the body of 19-year-old Coast Guard petty officer Ricky Dale Hemphill was found at a gravel bar near the Chetco River
The Chetco River is a stream located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains approximately of Curry County. Flowing through a rugged and isolated coastal region, it descends rapidly from about to sea level at the P ...
, about 16 miles east of Brookings. Originally from Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
, Hemphill was stationed in Brookings as a boatswain's mate third class, and was last seen in his pickup truck with his 18-year-old girlfriend Charla Toma, of Lincoln City. He had been shot twice in the back. About 24 miles upstream, another body was found, later determined to be that of Toma. The next day, officers conducting a routine traffic stop in Port Orford
Port Orford (Tolowa: tr’ee-ghi~’- ’an’ ) is a city in Curry County on the southern coast of Oregon, United States. The population was 1,133 at the 2010 census.
The city takes its name from George Vancouver's original name for nearby Ca ...
stopped a vehicle occupied by three men: 26-year-old Edward Delon Warren, 34-year-old George Rose and another man who was never identified. Suddenly, Warren and Rose dashed into the woods, leaving the third occupant behind. After an hour being chased by police bloodhounds, the two men were captured. Warren was detained as a suspect in the Brookings murders, while Rose was returned to the Tillamook Forestry Camp, where he was serving a sentence for first-degree robbery and attempted assault.
Trial, imprisonment and death
At his February 1980 trial for the Hemphill-Toma murders, Warren claimed that a profane remark from Hemphill resulted in his shooting. After the fact, he ordered Charla Toma to drive in Hemphill's pickup truck up the Chetco River, and after a short walk through the woods, he shot her in the back three times and left. Pleading guilty to the murders, Justice Frederick Starkweather Jr. sentenced Warren to death, citing his belief that the defendant was a violent criminal who posed a danger to society.[ At a later point, the sentence was commuted by the ]Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.[List of serial killers in the United States
A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Edward Delon
1953 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American criminals
Deaths from respiratory failure
American people convicted of burglary
American people convicted of murder
American people convicted of robbery
People convicted of murder by Oregon
People from Curry County, Oregon
Prisoners sentenced to death by Oregon
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Oregon
Serial killers from Oregon
Serial killers who died in prison custody