Man found Guilty of Murdering Oregon Security Officer
EUGENE, Ore. December 15 2019— A man has been found guilty in the murder of a Eugene security guard last year.
The jury reached a verdict Friday in the trial of Thomas Copeland, 31.
His sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 26.
Copeland shot and killed Frank Ledgett, 69, outside of Season’s Bar on Highway 99 and Rosevelt Boulevard in October 2018. Copeland testified that he shot him in self-defense.
During closing arguments, prosecutors showed video survivance of the shooting from both a security camera in the parking lot and from a body camera Ledgett was wearing.
The video shows Copeland shooting Ledgett after Ledgett told them he and the two women he was with that they needed to leave the property.
“He believed, reasonable, that Mr. Ledgett was going to his belt and pull that gun out and shoot him or the girls in front of him,” said Copeland’s attorney David Saydack to the jury.
But Lane County Prosecutor Erick Hasselman told the jury the two women testified they didn’t feel it was self-defense.
“Where is this self-defense claim coming from? It’s not being raised by Ms. Tiffany, it’s not being raised by Ms. Jankens, it’s being raised by the defendant Mr. Copeland,” Hasselman said.
