The Last Time We Saw Her

by Robert Scott

  Heiser noted, “The huge difference between the New Mexico case and our case is that the victim in their case managed to escape and make a report to the police.” Because of Natalie’s description of her assailant, Courtney was arrested and Oregon detectives tried connecting him to a green minivan. The authorities were able to talk to Courtney’s in-laws, and Heiser said of them, “They’ve been nothing but cooperative, helpful, and forthcoming.” And it was Joel Courtney’s brother-in-law who placed Courtney directly with a green minivan that he drove in May 2004 in connection with his job with CBM.

  Heiser didn’t say much more, even though he was subjected to a barrage of questions from the gathered media. In response to the questions, Heiser replied, “I know you guys are dying to hear all the pieces of the puzzle and the entire story. But it’s just not appropriate to answer at this time. As the prosecutor I play by the rules, and adhere to the Oregon State Bar rules of professional conduct. I play those rules very close to my chest.”

  Cammy Wilberger also made a short statement to the press. She said, “This is not over yet. To come this far, a lot of prayers have been answered. Our main goal remains the same. To find Brooke and to see that justice is served.”

  Scott Heiser and the other authorities may have been very tight-lipped about Joel Courtney, but already the Oregon media was ferreting out whatever it could about him. And the New Mexico media helped them in this regard. The Albuquerque Journal reported that Captain Henry Perea, a Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center spokesman, said that FBI agents from Oregon had shown up at the detention center and served Courtney with paperwork about the charges against him in the Brooke Wilberger case. Perea added, “A fugitive hold has been placed on Joel Courtney. Once his case is done here, he will be extradited back to Oregon.”

  The Albuquerque Journal also gave details about Natalie Kirov’s kidnapping and assault. This was the first time that the Oregon media knew any details about this case and its relationship to Brooke’s case. In fact, the Salem Statesman Journal quoted an Albuquerque PD spokeswoman who said, “This guy was a bad dude! We found out he had prior sex offenses in other states.”

  That set off a new round of Oregon media trying to find out exactly what those sex offenses had been and how many of them had been in Oregon. The Oregon media also went around the area talking to ordinary people about their thoughts on the latest developments and about the “bad dude” who was the suspected kidnapper sitting in jail in New Mexico.

  Jan Mattson, of Lebanon, told a reporter, “If this man proves to be involved, I hope they can finally find Brooke and put to rest all of the concerns and heartaches that surround this.” Jan’s wife, Kathy, who had been out on several searches, said, “I really didn’t think she was alive [when I did the searches]. But the family needs closure. I’m glad they’ve charged someone. It’s about time.”

  Sue Doolen, of Corvallis, had also been on searches, and had worked with Brooke’s brother at Linus Pauling Middle School. Sue stated, “I hope they have all of the evidence they need to tie him to this.” She expressed a concern that was on many people’s minds, after the fact that at one time Loren Krueger, Aaron Evans, and especially Sung Koo Kim had looked good for the crime.

  People in restaurants, coffee shops, and bars all over the area sat glued to the television screens inside the establishments as the news came out about Joel Courtney. Even the waiters and waitresses stopped what they were doing to watch the televisions. Waitress Katie Peterson at Squirrel’s Tavern told a reporter, “This is the first I’ve heard they found anybody. When it first happened, I was afraid to walk around alone.” Squirrel’s owner Greg Little related, “I’m sure the family is glad for some type of closure.” And then Greg added one fact that no one had picked up on before. He said, “Corvallis is not immune to this sort of thing. It happened back in the 1970s. Ted Bundy was here.” In fact, on May 6, 1974, Ted Bundy abducted OSU student Roberta Parks and later killed her.

  At a different establishment, Clodfelter’s Public House, employee Grant Stocks said that he’d noticed less signs and talk about Brooke as the months after May 2004 went on. Grant said, “I don’t think it was because people lost hope. It was more because you have to move on.” Then he added in relation to how long the legal process with Courtney would probably take, “It’s kind of disappointing when they talk about how it’s going to be years before this is resolved. It’s too bad we have to wait that long for everything to finally be over.”

  A journalist for the Statesman Journal asked people around the Benton County Courthouse what the mood was like there. Employee Rod Jarvis said, “The two biggest things I’ve observed on this case is the unbelievable dedication that law enforcement officers had for finding this guy. And the second thing is the tremendous relief that it’s over.”

  Even Joel Courtney’s sister read a short statement in her hometown of Portland. Within the statement Dina McBride said how sorry she felt for the Wilberger family. And she added, “Because of what we know of God, we believe that justice must be served.” Law enforcement authorities let it be known that Dina had been very cooperative with them about Joel.

  Some of the people most affected, of course, had been female students who lived on campus at OSU, not far from where Brooke had been taken. One of these was Liz Miller, who went to school at OSU and then actually moved into the Oak Park Apartments complex during the summer of 2004. Liz said, “I had a night class and had to walk all the way across campus. You see some random guy and it’s always in the back of your head. I want this (Courtney’s arrest) to be an end to it all. It’s scary to know, just that knot in your stomach, thinking ‘what if?’”

  On that theme of safety, another OSU student, Jordana Price, commented, “I know it happens a lot, especially on college campuses. You’ve got to be smart about it.” Jordana walked with others whenever possible on campus.

  Also addressing the safety issue was Melissa Moser, of the Old Mill Center for Children and Families. She said, “Parents or family members should really listen to their children and find out what their concerns are.” Something like Brooke’s abduction and apparent murder could be very scary for younger children. Moser related that it was okay for children to express their fears, but also to let them know that their parents or older siblings were watching out for their safety. And for teens it was important to stress that they always needed to be aware of their surroundings, especially at night. Even with those commonsense tips, Moser admitted, “Brooke’s situation just didn’t follow any of the rules. This was a young woman, during the morning, just out doing her job in a relatively safe neighborhood.”

  Liz Miller, the OSU student, with whom a reporter had spoken earlier, asked a question that was on a lot of people’s minds. “How do you convict someone of murder without a body?” And then she made a statement that also was on a lot of people’s minds. Of all the suspects and persons of interest who had been mentioned in the previous months, Joel Courtney’s name had not been mentioned once. She wondered how long the authorities in Oregon had known about this person before they let the public know about their findings.

  To that effect, law enforcement authorities, not unlike DA Heiser, were playing things close to the vest. Lieutenant Mark Cotter, of the Oregon State Police, would only say, “Since Brooke’s abduction we’ve had our eyes open to anything that might relate to her disappearance.” And Peggy Pierson, emergency services coordinator for Benton County, added, “Of course, we are disappointed that there is a charge of murder because we would have liked to have seen her returned. What we are seeing is the apparent reality that she’s not coming home.”

  Then Pierson let it be known that the news of Brooke probably being dead came in so quickly, and unexpectedly, from law enforcement that it caught even professional search teams off guard. Pierson said she would be contacting Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit (CMRU), Marys Peak Search and Rescue, and the Benton County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse to let them know about the latest developments.
Some of them were still out in the field and had not yet heard the news.

  And Mike Bamberger, Benton County Emergency Services manager, let it be known that some search teams were still going to go on with their work despite the latest news. He said, “We will continue to search all credible tips that the detective task force will give us. All my team members are anxious and ready to go. We haven’t been able to bring her home yet.” The unspoken word was that they would probably be bringing Brooke’s body or skeletal remains back home, and not a live Brooke.

  Churches around the area had been very supportive of the Wilberger family, right from the beginning. At the Corvallis First Presbyterian Church, the banner about Brooke was still hanging on a wall: PRAY FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF BROOKE. Reverend John Dennis told a reporter, “I always hoped Brooke would emerge alive from this. If I’m going to be pulling those stakes up [which held the banner], it will be really personal for me.”

  At the Corvallis Church of the Nazarene, Reverend Russ Stiverson said that even before the news about Brooke and her abductor broke, his sermon for the upcoming Sunday was titled, “Why Is This Happening to Me?” Stiverson said he would be preaching about Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery. And this sermon fit in with Brooke Wilberger’s parents’ statement that good would come from evil. Stiverson quoted from Genesis 50:20—“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result.”

  None more than the Latter-day Saints in the area had been touched by the news. Dr. Wade Haslam, president of the Corvallis Stake, said that the acts of wicked men and women could not alter a righteous individual’s quest for eternal life. Haslam related, “Based on the way Brooke conducted her life, I am confident that her course remains unaltered by her tragic abduction and apparent murder.” And he reiterated Mormon belief that though a person’s physical body might die, the spirit lived on and eventually the body and spirit would be reunited in heaven, where the spirit was born in the first place. Families were forever, and Brooke would be reunited with her family when they passed away.

  Even reporters, who had seen many terrible things in their time, had been profoundly touched by Brooke’s abduction. One of these was Theresa Hogue, who wrote for the Corvallis Gazette-Times. In an article she related about how angry she was after the news about Joel Courtney broke. She slipped off the pink “Find Brooke” bracelet she had been wearing for over a year, and put it away. Hogue wrote, I got angry because it finally hit me that those secret hopes I held about Brooke had been dashed. She also wrote about being angry because, For every Brooke, there are hundreds of other girls and women who have disappeared, or been killed by their boyfriends, husbands, fathers or uncles. We can ask, “Why Brooke?” But we know, deep down, it could have been any girl, any one of us.

  Perhaps in one place the capture of Brooke’s suspected abductor left profound relief. That was in Sung Koo Kim’s family. At last they could put to rest the idea that Kim had abducted and murdered Brooke Wilberger. Kim’s mother told a reporter, “I heard the news that they caught the man. I’m very happy, but at the same time I’m sorry for the Wilberger parents. As a parent my heart goes out to the Wilberger family.”

  Almost as a side note, the article mentioned that Sung Koo Kim was now on his fifth attorney—the fourth one having dropped off the case. Kim’s new lawyer was Clayton Lance, of Portland.

  For journalists and ordinary people alike, the question was “Who is Joel Courtney?” Until now, his name had never been mentioned once in newspapers or on television in connection with Brooke Wilberger. Bit by bit, information about Courtney’s past came to light, and the spokeswoman for the Albuquerque PD hit the nail on the head when she said, “He is a bad dude.”

  CHAPTER 14

  A BAD DUDE

  Joel Patrick Courtney was born in Panorama City, California, which is in the southern part of the state, not far from Los Angeles. Before long, however, the family moved to Beaverton, Oregon.

  Beaverton, Oregon, named for the abundance of beaver dams in the area, was initially settled as a shipping point on the Oregon Central Railroad. By the time Joel was growing up, Beaverton was fast becoming a suburb of Portland, with a wide array of light industry, electronics companies, and research centers.

  Joel was a slow learner and didn’t like school. Whether it is true or not, Joel would later state that he dropped out of school by the time he was fourteen years old, in 1980. This may not have been the case, since other individuals would speak of being a classmate of Joel in high school.

  Joel’s sister, Dina, said that at age eleven Joel started using illegal drugs. Because of his taste for drugs and an unrestrained temper, Joel ended up in juvenile hall at age fifteen. According to Dina, Joel developed an interest in Satanism around this time as well. He definitely liked rock music that had a dark, sinister side to it.

  Dina later told authorities that when Joel was fourteen years old, she awoke one night in bed to find Joel on top of her. He had his hand around her neck and he was partially undressed. He had an erection and was trying to undress her. Dina struck him on the side of the head with a clock to make him stop, preventing herself from being raped.

  Corvallis PD detective Shawn Houck later spoke with one of Joel’s female cousins, who was younger than Joel. Detective Houck discovered that this cousin said that Joel had sexually abused her on four different occasions when she was between the ages of twelve and seventeen. The first incident occurred when she spent the night at the Courtney home. She was twelve years old, and awoke to find Joel, then age fourteen, completely naked and straddling her body. She was wearing overalls at the time, which somehow kept him from undressing her. He might have persisted, but a family member walked down the hallway at that moment. It frightened Joel into ceasing his attack on her. Joel told her not to say anything to anyone about the incident, or “life will be bad for you!”

  Joel left the bedroom and went downstairs; she soon followed. When she did, Joel told her to go back upstairs and get into bed. She wouldn’t do it. She was afraid that once she did, he would follow her and complete what he had started.

  A later incident probably occurred in 1983, when Joel was seventeen years old. The cousin and several relatives were staying at their grandparents’ home in Burbank, California. On at least two occasions, she woke up with Joel lying next to her. On both occasions he had an arm around her and was touching her breasts. She didn’t recall him touching between her legs on those occasions. Joel once again told her, “If you tell anyone, things won’t go well for you!”

  The next set of incidents occurred either in 1987 or 1988, when the cousin was a junior or senior in high school. She was visiting Joel’s sister, Dina, at Dina’s residence. The cousin didn’t know that Joel was going to be in town. She was taking a nap in one of the bedrooms, only to be awakened by Joel. He was unbuttoning her blouse, but he stopped when she woke up. After she awoke, Joel just left the room without saying a word. She didn’t tell anyone because she was concerned for her safety if she did so. The cousin related one more important thing to authorities later. She said at the time she was five-three and weighed about 108 pounds. This was relatively the same height and weight as Brooke Wilberger and Natalie Kirov.

  In 1985, Joel pled guilty to a first-degree sex abuse case in Washington County court, admitting that he had snorted cocaine, had drunk beer, and had forcible sexual contact with his teenaged victim. All of this would come out later in court. For something so serious, Joel got a very light sentence—ninety days of jail time and probation. But even with this light sentence, he was soon in trouble again. Joel violated probation by not checking in with his supervisor, failed to pay fines, and failed to return to a low-level work-release detention center. Eventually he was caught again with marijuana on him and was sentenced to ninety more days of jail time, and his probation period was upped to five years. Within a year Joel broke the law again, by being a minor in possession of alcohol.

  Joel Courtn
ey would just not play by the rules. In 1987 a judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest, since Joel had failed to meet with his probation officer and had engaged in employment without permission. And once again he was found to have a “controlled substance” on him. This time, however, Joel didn’t serve any more jail time, but he did have his probation period extended for another three years.

  One of the very few people who kept tabs on Joel Courtney during the late 1980s and 1990s was Washington County probation officer Bob Severe. Severe was able to piece together that Courtney absconded from supervision sometime in 1987 and went up to Alaska to work on a fishing boat. Courtney worked the fishing season there, and then spent the off-season in Mexico. This pattern went on for several years. Just what Joel was up to in the realm of criminal activity in these years, not even Severe knew. There would be a lot of speculation on law enforcement’s part in the years to come.

  Joel Courtney might have kept flying under the radar if he hadn’t returned to Washington County in 1991. As Severe recalled, “Someone who knew he was supposed to be on probation called the department.” Joel was arrested once again and went before a judge. Yet, once again, Joel didn’t receive any more jail time. Severe related, “In those days the judge would oftentimes put them back on probation if they didn’t get into trouble while they were gone.” If Joel had been in trouble, either in Alaska or in Mexico, there was no documentation concerning that. Courtney received three more years of probation from the judge.

  Severe noted, “We didn’t have any problems with him after he came back.” By 1994, Courtney had done his three years of probation time without any further problems, and he was now free and clear. In that era he didn’t have to register as a sex offender. And then he really fell off the radar, as far as the authorities were concerned.