Murdered or still missing? Ex-roommate on trial for 1999 killing of Oregon pot dealer

Zane Sparling / oregonlive.com (TNS)
Posted 1/16/25

Twenty-five years after a Hillsboro, Oregon, man disappeared while picking up drug money over the Fourth of July weekend, his ex-roommate was brought to trial and accused of killing the small-time …

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Murdered or still missing? Ex-roommate on trial for 1999 killing of Oregon pot dealer

Posted

Twenty-five years after a Hillsboro, Oregon, man disappeared while picking up drug money over the Fourth of July weekend, his ex-roommate was brought to trial and accused of killing the small-time dealer for his truck, marijuana and cash.

At the heart of the case is Anthony Kennedy, 22, who vanished without a trace in July 1999. His body has never been found.

But during opening statements Monday, prosecutors told a Washington County jury that a chain of evidence and the shifting story of Kennedy’s older roommate, Kenneth T. Gipson, would prove he was the killer.

“Tony Kennedy had no reason or intent to leave; he had no means to do so,” prosecutor Andrew Freeman said. “He did not just die — he did not just disappear: Ken Gipson covered it up.”

The defense, meanwhile, dismissed the case as incomplete and circumstantial — saying the physical evidence amounted to a few receipts found in Kennedy’s 1985 Toyota pickup.

Defense attorney Shannon Douglas said police and Kennedy’s friends unfairly suspected Gipson, who was 41 at the time and moved in with Kennedy two days before he disappeared.

“There is no body, no cause of death, no weapon and no crime scene,” said Douglas. “The state is going to present a bunch of information from the periphery that doesn’t connect to any of the important issues in a murder case.”

Court records say Kennedy was last seen alive on July 2, 1999, when he left his home at 2305 S.E. 73rd Ave. and drove north to Columbia City, where Kennedy picked up $4,200 in drug money as a favor to his stepfather.

He mentioned plans to shoot targets in the area near Pumpkin Ridge later that day, court records say, but it’s unclear if he made it.

In an age of landlines and pagers, no one noticed Kennedy missing until he didn’t show at two parties that weekend, according to Freeman. His friends grew increasingly alarmed, and several confronted Gipson at the home on July 8, the prosecutor said.

One of the friends, Lucan Rainwater, remembers Gipson saying “I’m sorry for what happened about Tony” before leaving them to search the empty house, Freeman told the jury. Inside the home, Kennedy’s guns were missing, as was the petty cash and marijuana he typically kept in a drawer, according to Freeman.

Kennedy was reported missing to police on July 9 after his attic growing operation was disassembled.

Gipson, meanwhile, finally had the money to get his ATV back from a Honda repair shop, Freeman said.



Gipson told police that he never realized his new roommate was gone that week, suggesting in different accounts that he had or had not seen him on the night of July 2, according to Freeman.

“I thought he was coming back at any time,” Gipson said in a taped police interview.

Kennedy’s blue pickup was spotted parked in several spots around the neighborhood — but when police finally located it, the truck had been disguised with window decals and new wheels, the prosecutor said.

At first, Gipson suggested the truck belonged to a strange woman he’d met recently, according to Freeman. The taped interview captured Gipson’s raised tone when he was told that his fingerprints had been found on the sticker adhesive.

“Somebody’s messing with me,” Gipson said, using a stronger word. “I don’t remember the damn stickers.”

Receipts for the wheels and stickers found in the truck were dated to after Kennedy’s disappearance, prosecutors say.

Kennedy’s toolbox was found in Gipson’s van; inside was a paper towel speckled with Gipson’s blood, Freeman said in court.

So what? — the defense replied.

Gipson cooperated in the investigation and spoke with police four times, according to the defense, and Kennedy’s $4,200 payment was eventually found hidden in his closet. Gipson had his own money from a part-time job building fences, according to the defense.

Police didn’t search the house until Sept. 7, 1999, and Kennedy’s other missing items could have been taken before then, argued Douglas, the defense attorney.

Gipson remained in Hillsboro and then in central Oregon for years, she said. He was arrested in Tennessee in 2021 and the now 66-year-old has remained in custody since then.

The case is expected to last two weeks before a jury of eight men and four women — two less than when the day began. One jury member wasn’t notified to show up at the courthouse, while another juror was dismissed after admitting she had posted about the trial in a forum for a true-crime podcast.

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