Abp. Sample administers Confirmation to death row inmate

SALEM, Ore. — Portland Archbishop Alexander K. Sample confirmed one of Oregon’s most infamous prisoners May 28 in a heavily guarded private ceremony in the maximum security prison in Salem.

In 2007, Gary Haugen was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a fellow inmate while serving a life sentence for the murder of his former girlfriend’s mother. In November 2011, Haugen gained notoriety for dropping his appeals and asking to be executed.

A second death-row prisoner, Jason Van Brumwell, who was an accomplice with Haugen in the prison killing, wants to die, too, arguing that pursuing appeals is pointless.

Haugen was scheduled to be put to death for his second murder in December 2011, but his execution was put on hold by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, despite Haugen’s pleas to end his life.

The Democratic governor has halted all executions for the duration of his time in office.

Oregon State Penitentiary — or OSP, as the high-walled, Belgian razor wire-topped prison fortress on the outskirts of the state capital is known — houses 2,100 inmates, nearly half of whom are behind bars for sex offender convictions.
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