Murder suspect arraigned from cell after Washington Co. Courthouse escape
HILLSBORO, Ore. (KPTV) - The murder suspect who ran out of the Washington County Courthouse in Hillsboro Monday morning appeared in court again Wednesday.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said 28-year-old Edi Villalobos was in court on Monday for allegedly stabbing a Cornelius man to death in 2021 and stabbing another man in Clackamas County.
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Police said Villalobos was able to run out of the first-floor courthouse and flee authorities around 11 a.m., but was found shortly after 1:30 p.m. in an apartment nearby. WCSO said the residents were not home and a neighbor called the police to report suspicious behavior.
“I wouldn’t call it a failure what I would call it is we need to reassess how we need to do things.,” says Sgt. Danny DiPietro with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. “What took place here and evaluating the circumstances in this incident alone, it could change. We’re always looking to do better.”
Out of precaution, Villalobos appeared in court virtually on Wednesday, peering through an opening in a jail cell. In addition to murder charges, he was formally arraigned on burglary and escape charges after Monday’s ordeal.
His jury trial, which was scheduled for this week has been rescheduled for Oct. 3.
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Malik Shubbar works at an auto body shop across the street from the apartment complex where the chase came to end, and says it was an afternoon he won’t forget.
“All the cops came down here, and then one cop brought down a shield with him and we saw guns come out and all the cops were stopping at the complex right there,” said Shubbar.
Shubbar says these details he and his colleagues learned after the chase were very unsettling.
“We were standing right outside the shop and then a cop yelled at us to go inside,” he said. “We didn’t know what was happening at the time and then later on we knew it was a murder suspect and we got pretty spooked.”
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