Austin Clark murder trial underway in Douglas County Court
By KPIC-TV StaffROSEBURG, Ore. - Opening arguments were heard Friday morning in the murder trial of a Days Creek teenager, who faces murder charges in the death of a Canyonville man with an ax, more than two years ago. Eighteen-year-old Austin Clark is accused of murdering Kevin Omann of Canyonville in September of 2007, while the two were partying in a remote area between Tiller and Milo in southeastern Douglas County. Prosecutor Steve Hoddle told the jury in his opening remarks, that a blow to the head with an ax killed Omann, while he was sitting in the bed of his pickup. "He was near his tailgate when Austin Clark, with an old rusted ax, buried it in his skull," said Hoddle. Defense Attorney Don Scales told the jury, he actually agreed with most of the facts, but he will try to prove Clark was not the one that killed Kevin Oman, "I believe and this is something for you to determine the evidence will show, and this is forensic evidence that Mr. Omann was still alive when his throat was cut," Scales said in his opening arguments to the jury. He asked the jury to pay special attention to the role that alcohol played in the crime. Hoddle told the jury that Clark actually confessed his involvement in the murder to one of his teachers at Days Creek High School. A wildland firefighter told the court Friday, he and a co-worker discovered a bloodied ax, near the scene where Omann's pickup was found, but they left it there. Police said when they went back to find it, it was gone, but they did locate it later, when they searched the cabin where Clark was staying. Kim Omann, the mother of the victim, was also on the witness stand Friday. She talked about her son graduating from South Umpqua High School, and serving four years in the Air Force before coming back home to live in Canyonville. Clark faces life in prison if he is convicted. The trial is expected to go through most of next week.
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