A man charged with killing a retired professor and seriously injuring another man during an unprovoked attack at a Portland bus stop in June was denied bail Monday after a judge heard evidence that the suspect appeared unremorseful and delusional in statements afterward to police.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Benjamin Souede determined Keffer J. White was ineligible for bail and ordered him to remain confined inside the downtown county jail.
White, 30, faces a second-degree murder charge in the death of retired Oregon State University statician Donald Pierce, 82, as well as charges of first-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault against Edward Lichtenstein, 88.
In an interview with police after his arrest, White mocked the two men and asked whether they were dead, Portland homicide Detective Jennifer Hertzler testified during the hearing. The investigator described White’s attitude as “jovial” but also rambling with “nonsensical” statements about people who didn’t exist.
“There was a lot of laughing from Mr. White about what he’d done,” Hertzler said. “He did seem pretty proud of what he did.”
White, flanked by two defense attorneys at the hourlong hearing, stared fixedly ahead and showed no emotion. White previously told jail officials he had bipolar disorder and experienced panic attacks, but wasn’t receiving treatment while living on the streets, court documents show.
Pierce, Liechtenstein and Liechtenstein’s wife, Anne Lichtenstein, were waiting at a TriMet bus stop on Southwest Fifth Avenue near Hall Street about 8:27 p.m. June 25 when White wandered past and began the confrontation, police said.
Hertzler testified that a surveillance video showed White demonstrating “aggressive body language” before suddenly head-butting Edward Lichtenstein, then grabbing Pierce and throwing him to the ground.
The video showed White then kicking Pierce several times in the head, the investigator testified. White momentarily “turned his attention” back to Lichtenstein and punched him to the ground, the detective said, then began kicking Pierce again as he lay in the fetal position.
“He said if these men had been younger he would have put them down harder,” Hertzler said.
Anne Liechtenstein wasn’t injured during the attack, police said.
The video, which Hertzler said lacks audio, wasn’t played in court.
A passing patrol officer, Charles Perry, heard frantic cries and drove toward the scene, where an eyewitness flagged him down, according to Hertzler. Perry and other officers arrived about a minute after the attack began and arrested White at the scene, according to a timeline of events shown in court.
Both men were rushed by ambulance to OHSU. Pierce succumbed to his injuries two days later.
Defense attorney William Redden didn’t cross examine Hertzler or attempt any counter arguments during the hearing. Prosecutor Nicole Hermann requested White remain in custody with no bail set.
White was last held in custody in January on charges of possessing a stolen car, court records show, and has four felony convictions on his record. He was convicted of felony strangulation and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault in Multnomah County in June 2020 and sentenced to 180 days in jail for hurting a woman he knew, court records say.
