NEWPORT – A 68-year-old Newport man is in the Lincoln County jail on murder and manslaughter charges after a man he is accused of repeatedly hitting Wednesday died as police were investigating the disturbance.
Mark W. Rogers, who has a criminal history in Multnomah and Lincoln counties dating back to 1992, is being held on second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault. He was arraigned in Lincoln County circuit court Friday.
Officers were called to a home on Northwest 15th Street about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a disturbance, according to a Newport Police Department news release Saturday. They found Rogers and Jeffrey Sutton outside and a third man inside the house, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Lincoln County circuit court by Officer Jaden Welsh.
In her affidavit, Welsh said Sutton, 67, told her that Rogers was drunk, was asked to leave his property and then began punching him repeatedly. Welsh said as she was interviewing Sutton he began having difficulty breathing and then radioed to have medics come to the house. Medics were unable to revive Sutton and he died about 9:30, police said.
Welsh said she interviewed Rogers, who said he had trained as a kickboxer most of his life, and that he had hit Sutton 30 to 50 times. Welsh said Rogers appeared intoxicated and repeatedly threatened officers, but was arrested without further trouble.
