Multnomah County DA Nathan Vasquez opposes early release petition of murderer

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez is reversing course on the position of his predecessor, former DA Mike Schmidt, by opposing an early release petition of convicted murderer Frank Swopes.

Vasquez's office announced the formal withdrawal of the previous administration's petition to reconsider Swopes' sentencing under Senate Bill 819. The relatively new Oregon law allows district attorneys, jointly with defendants, to file a petition for resentencing to judges.

In this case, Schmidt and Swopes' lawyer filed the petition for resentencing, citing the conviction no longer advancing the interests of justice, according to the joint petition document. It was one of four felony cases DA Schmidt's office filed to petition for resentencing on Dec. 30, on the eve of Vasquez taking over as DA.

The other three petitions will be reviewed by Vasquez's office before a decision is made on them.

In 1993, Swopes was convicted of murder and a string of other crimes including five counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree kidnapping, eluding a police officer and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, 25 of which was for the murder alone. As of December, Swopes served 32 years. The petition was to convert the last five years of his sentence to release with probation and certain stipulations.

Swopes was charged with the murder of a woman whose home he and an accomplice ransacked on May 3, 1992. The woman's autopsy confirmed she died of asphyxiation.

On that same day, Swopes and an accomplice robbed another home occupied by a married couple and stole cash and personal items, including a camera bag and lenses. The man who lived in the home was kicked in the face and injured.

A week later, on May 10, 1992, Swopes robbed another home occupied by a 76-year-old woman whom he tied up while collecting her valuables. Court documents state Swopes "terrorized" her to retrieve her ATM code and then left her tied up to furniture before leaving. The woman said he also sexually assaulted her.

Swopes was later arrested after initially fleeing from police when they caught him using the ATM card.

Alonzo Roper, who participated in the two robberies on May 3, 1992, testified Swopes was responsible for killing the woman and that Roper pushed her down. Roper was sentenced to 17 years in exchange for testifying against Swopes.

The original petition for resentencing cited the surviving victims of Swopes' crimes — including the immediate family members of the woman who was murdered — having since passed away.

Vasquez's office said in a press release that during the most recent hearing about the petition on Dec. 30, Judge Melvin Oden-Orr "ordered the case to be reset to a later date and directed the District Attorney’s Office to comply with the requirements of the law by providing all affected victims with a copy of any petition for resentencing."

Under Vasquez, the Multnomah County DA's Office has since "complied with the court's order," the press release said.

In a statement, Vasquez talked about the decision to not endorse Swopes' resentencing:

"After reviewing the facts of Mr. Swopes’ crime spree which resulted in the death of one woman, the horrific sexual assault of another, and the permanent scars he left in his wake, his early release back to our streets is not in the best interests of the surviving victims or the community.”

The DA's office said they requested more time from the court to review the specifics of the three remaining resentencing petitions previously endorsed by Schmidt "in order to reach a fully-informed decision regarding the best path forward."

The formal hearing on Swopes' petition was reset to February 13, 2025, court records show.