Deputy: Man driving high on meth admits murder plot
PHILOMATH, Ore. -- A man pulled over for reckless driving early Saturday morning was arrested after he told deputies he planned to kill three people in Philomath, the Benton County Sheriff's Office said.
A sheriff's deputy stopped a car on Highway 99W at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday for swerving over the lines and driving 15 miles under the speed limit.
As he approached the car, the deputy reported that he found the driver, 33-year-old Anthony Joseph Rodrigues, Jr., was crying uncontrollably.
In a sworn affidavit narrating the incident, the deputy said that Rodrigues told him he had planned to go to Philomath to kill a woman, her husband and her child.
When the deputy asked about a handgun sitting in the passenger seat, Rodrigues allegedly responded "I was in a rage, I was gonna kill 'em."
The report goes on to say that Rodrigues told the deputy he smoked methamphetamine Friday afternoon before buying a gun and ammunition in Eugene. The deputy conducted a field sobriety test and found that Rodrigues was still high on meth, officials said.
Rodrigues was arrested on three counts of attempted murder, unlawful possession and use of a weapon, driving under the influence and reckless driving.
After the DUII test, the arresting deputy and a sheriff's office detective interviewed Rodrigues about the incident. In the interview, Rodrigues allegedly told the sheriff's deputies he first bought the gun to kill his father living in Veneta. When he found that his father wasn't at home, he decided to drive to Philomath and kill Cathy Scott and her family, officials said.
HOw did I know this would be Oregon? Â Can we all agree that meth is not a recreational drug? People use it once, thinking it's like pot.. and your life spirals out of control. Â There is a drug education program called "not even once." that is trying to get the word out about how addictive and destructive meth is. Â Glad the police stopped that guy, I would imagine the woman and her family would be wise to move out of State, because they won't be able to keep that guy in jail forever.Â
This guy, most likely, bought the gun from some methhead criminal. I say that because, right now with all of Obama's attempts to destroy Second Amendment rights, I know of no place where I can buy any Ammunition, at least not from a licensed gun dealer.
Such a handsome young man. (not) Sad. Yet another "Faces of Meth". Looks so much older than 33.Â
It must be nice to be able to sell a man high on meth a gun to be used in a triple murder and have legal immunity from being sued.
@lakeview What is so nice about that?
Maybe fate or God stepped in to give him a second chance before he went to far. Maybe some time in the joint is what he needs to confront his terrible addiction and turn his life around. It might work if they don't put him in with the worst offenders, the ones that never shed tears and don't give a damn about anyone .Once he gets marked up with prison tattoos he's lost. Hope the judge takes that into consideration.
He has too much time on his hands and he is using in an unhealthy manner. Hope he goes to jail for a while since freedom doesn't seem to be something he appreciates.
And yet we still have idiots -- supposedly 8% of the population -- who are opposed to background checks. Y'know, I suspect those 8% just might be the very population who we'd never want to possess a gun ... not even a squirt gun.
@Ben Ezzell  He could have passed an instant background check at a store in Eugene. Oregon has no waiting period.Â
@lakeview @Ben Ezzell Do you know that he didn't have any prior felonys? It seems odd that a man could be a meth user and get to the age of 33 and NOT have any prior felony convictions. Not impossible, just not likely. If we had universal background checks, he wouldn't have been able to buy the gun legally.
@justmyopinion @lakeview @Ben Ezzell  Not odd...with enough plea bargains, one can do all manner of things and never get a felony conviction.
Problem with the courts there...
Here is a perfect example of why the 2005 federal law giving immunity to gun sellers from civil lawsuits is a bad thing. If this man had been able to follow through on his plans, and the gun dealer who sold him the gun knew he was high as a kite on meth, the victims would not be able to sue the negligent gun dealer. Â
That's what the NRA can buy in Washington...get out of jail free cards for their manufacturers and dealers. Â
"That's what the NRA can buy in Washington..."
Dude- this was in O-R-E-G-O-N. Not  W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N. If you're going to insist on spewing the same anti-gun, anti-NRA drivel, at least get your States correct.
@Content_People Since Lakeview was posting about a F-E-D-E-R-A-L law, I'm pretty sure he was speaking of the other Washington, as in DC. You need to work on your reading comprehension, I believe.
@lakeviewÂ
That law was to protect the manufacturer from suits regarding the misuse of
their products ( weapons ), not, as you think, to protect them from product
liability suits based any flaws based in the actual manufacturing of the product. Â Â
Manufacturers of products, including cars, and weapons can still be sued if
it can be shown that their product had defects that caused injury, or death.
They can not be sued simply because someone misused their product.
Your agenda is showing AGAIN.
@lakeviewAs usual you're FOS. Where are the lawsuits against car dealership or manufacturers for drugged or drunk drivers? How about vehicular assault / manslaughter cases? As usual you're wrong.Â
@NW-Economist @lakeview Law school is clearly not in your future. Suing a car manufacturer for drunk driving makes no sense. Suing a gun store for selling a clearly intoxicated man a gun that is then used in a crime is well within the scope of negligence. Again, don't give anyone any free legal advice.
@lakeview "Suing a gun store for selling a clearly intoxicated man a gun that is then used in a crime is well within the scope of negligence." Though it's probably not what you meant, your poor writing skills actually helped you to get it right.
@lakeviewYou are so full of it.... How many other comments do you put up on here about what a shame it is that the gun INDUSTRY is granted "special" immunity by legislation from any kind of lawsuits relating to people using guns to harm others, not just cases of gun SHOPS selling them on the spot.Â
Anyone who forgets to ignore your drivel will know exactly what I am talking about.Â
Would love to hear about who sold him the gun and ammo in Eugene right after he smoked meth. How could the person who sold him the gun not know that he was under the influence of drugs? Â
Â
Oh Oregon, please stop with the meth addicted cave people...
33? The dude looks like he's hitting 50. Nice stuff that Meth is.
@Brewin4u I was quite astonished that he was only 33. Sad.