The man fatally struck by a car behind Rosemary Anderson High School in Gresham was identified as 36-year-old Buck Marshall, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Donald Bighaus, 52, was arrested, and now he faces second-degree murder and hit-and-run charges, court records from Multnomah County said.
Gresham police responded last Wednesday to reports from security guards about a body behind the school. Marshall was dead when they arrived around 9 p.m.
Video surveillance from the school shows Marshall behind the building with a bicycle when a man now believed to be Bighaus approached him in a blue Mazda minivan around 8:45 p.m., according to the affidavit. The alleged killer leaves the van and starts a conversation with Marshall before they both start urinating on opposite sides of a dumpster behind the school.
After a brief conversation, the two get into a physical fight, the video shows. The attacker ran back to his van and Marshall got on his bicycle and tried to ride away. The driver put the van in reverse and struck Marshall, pinning him against the building.
Investigators used the footage to locate the 2005 Mazda MPV, which had a broken taillight and damage to the rear driver’s side of the vehicle.
Around 11 p.m. the next day, police arrested Bighaus at his home. He allegedly told investigators that the altercation was over a knife he had made. Bighaus had given Marshall the knife and decided he wanted it back, leading to the physical confrontation, according to the affidavit.
Bighaus said he was the driver in the video footage, according to the affidavit. He said he was trying to “knock” Marshall not kill him.
His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 15.
– Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; (503) 319-9744
Ad Choices