Lawsuit probing Aron Christensen’s death on remote Lewis County trail is settled

Zane Sparling / oregonlive.com (TNS)
Posted 1/14/25

The family of slain Portland hiker Aron Christensen has settled their lawsuit against the teenager who was investigated but not charged criminally after he admitted to shooting into dark woods and …

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Lawsuit probing Aron Christensen’s death on remote Lewis County trail is settled

Posted

The family of slain Portland hiker Aron Christensen has settled their lawsuit against the teenager who was investigated but not charged criminally after he admitted to shooting into dark woods and then seeing a man and a dog dead.

Christensen, a 49-year-old bartender and musician, was found dead on the Walupt Lake Trail the next morning, Aug. 20, 2022. The area’s top prosecutor said the ensuing investigation was so error-riddled that it was impossible to file charges against 19-year-old Ethan Asbach.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee rebuffed requests for an independent probe, leading Christensen’s family to file a $3 million federal lawsuit against Asbach and his father in August. In court papers, Michael Asbach said he provided the handgun to his son, who was meeting up with his father for a bear-hunting trip at Sheep Lake.

On Dec. 13, a federal judge based out of Tacoma approved the voluntary settlement, which says that claims against the Asbachs cannot be refiled and that each party is responsible for their own attorney’s fees.

Pilar French and Lorenzo Leoni, who represented Christensen’s parents and siblings, said the family hasn’t given up searching for answers. French declined to say if money changed hands.

“We see this settlement as another vital step to obtain answers for the Christensen family,” the attorneys said in a statement. “The family now intends to engage experts who can advise them appropriately and independently about the evidence.”

Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Jonathan Meyer has blamed the sheriff’s office for tainting the evidence.



The first officer to see Christensen’s body told a coroner and detective still en route to the scene not to bother, the suit said, and hauled the body out of the wilderness using Christensen’s own gear.

The deputy, Andrew Scrivner — who had been recently demoted, according to the lawsuit — told the family that Christensen had died of a heart attack before he had been shot. The formal autopsy later found the opposite.

Additionally, conflicting veterinarian post-mortem reports have made it difficult to determine whether Christensen’s blue heeler puppy, Buzzo, was shot once or twice, the suit says.

Ethan Asbach, now 22, admitted in court filings to seeing an animal’s eyes glinting in his headlamp and firing a shot — then seeing the dead hiker and his dog.

He and his unidentified girlfriend left the scene, spent a night lost in the woods, and then returned to the Asbachs’ home in Tenino, where they waited for Michael R. Asbach, 41, to return to cell service.

Father and son contacted law enforcement some 48 hours after the shooting. Their attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

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