TICKER: Jehovah’s Witness shoots fellow church member to death after demanding oral sex

Slain Oregon Starbucks barista Whitney Heichel was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and then shot four times by a neighbor who waited outside her apartment and asked for a ride on the morning she vanished, court documents said.

The chilling details behind the 21-year-old’s murder emerged Monday as her accused killer, Jonathan Holt, made his first appearance in Clackamas County Court.

According to an affidavit posted on Portland newspaper The Oregonian’s website, Holt, 24, told police that he waited for Heichel at their Gresham apartment complex and then asked for a ride as she left for her 7 a.m. shift at Starbucks.

The two were friendly.

Holt and his wife attended the same Jehovah’s Witnesses church as the Heichel and her husband, Clint, and those two cared for the Holts’ plants and cats when they travelled, Clint Heichel told ABC News.

Just two weeks ago, Clint Heichel had helped Holt out of a jam by jump-starting his motorcycle.

About five minutes into the ride, Holt pulled a pistol and forced Heichel to drive to Roslyn Lake, about 15 minute to the southeast, where he made her perform oral sex on him.

The heartless sicko then shot her four times, killing her, the document said.

After chucking his cell phone in the lake, Holt drove Heichel’s black Ford Explorer to Larch Mountain, a remote forested area about an hour north of the murder scene, and dumped her body there, the affidavit said.

Heichel’s body was found there on Friday, the same day Holt was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder.

Holt changed his story during interviews with investigators after Heichel went missing, and his DNA was found on the Explorer’s steering wheel, cops said.

Dressed in an anti-suicide smock, he appeared in court via video feed on Monday and broke down in tears as he was formally accused of kidnapping, sodomizing and then murdering the pretty young brunette.

If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

He did not enter a plea and was expected to appear on court again on Friday.

Heichel’s heartbroken family, meanwhile, said they can’t understand why anyone would hurt her.

“It’s very difficult. We only had a year and nine months together, and when you get married, you bet on forever,” Clint Heichel told ABC News in an interview broadcast Monday.

“She didn’t do anything to deserve this. It’s just … why? That’s the only question. Why?”

“She was just a beautiful little person, just full of love, and she was just a ray of light to everybody,” he said.

According to The Oregonian, Holt grew up in northeast Portland and worked at a Burger King and Subway restaurant in the area after graduating from high school in 2006.

He married Amanda Adams,in a Jehovah’s Witness ceremony in 2010.

The Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Gresham described him as an “irregular” church-goer.

People in the area who grew up with Holt said they couldn’t believe he was a suspect in a brutal murder case.

“He seemed like such a shy and quiet guy and it’s shocking to hear what he is accused of,” Yuliya Mikhaylov, 24, who went to Parkrose High School with Holt, told the newspaper.

“Definitely something I didn’t expect.”

NY Daily News

Comments (6)

  1. I'm A member of Jehovah's Witnesses, our members will never do such a brutal thing and don't own guns. The Man is question is not a member He's only attending our meetings, he may have been expelled or disfellowshiped. Its not everyone that goes to our kingdom hall who is a member. You may also know our members in your area, ask around and you will know that our members are not murderers.

  2. First of all, this is a very sad story indeed.My sympathies are with the family concerned even the wife of the perpetrator.Indeed a shock to all. Because the victim was a loving caring person made her a victim to the perpetrator who did not control his evil thoughts.The perpetrator being a irregular attendee of Jehovah's Witness meetings,he would still know better than to carry out his atrocious deed.Any society would condemn his actions, that is why there are Law Enforcement agencies. (Well done to them) He was not an"inactive" Witness by reports. It was obviously a planned deed. No blame can be laid on Jehovah's Witnesses as they do not condone carrying weapons or oral sex. If it had been known that he was practicing such things in his home or having weapons it would have been dealt with. The beast must take his punishment without blaming his religion and has no bearing on Jehovah's Witnesses

  3. A true jehovah's witness doesn't own a gun, he Ȋ̝̊̅§ not seen as irregular. So definitely, he may once have attended when he wanted τ̲̅ȍ marry but he's definitely not a practicing jehovah's witness. Its easy τ̲̅ȍ pack the good with the bad .

  4. So because na Jehova witness person now, the news is fake, but if it were other church, ur‎​ "Awake!" Will be d first to carry it. Broda face real life, hell is empty; all the devils re here.

    1. Jehovah's Witnesses have a ministry that focuses on helping renegades to reform their lives. These are invited to attend the meetings as part of the process. So if any of these commits a crime, though outsiders may refer to him as JW, we insiders know the difference between a true witness and one who just attends the meeting. A true JW never owns a gun. It is for this reason that JW as a core practice shun armed services.

  5. dis must b a kind of form up lies cos Jehovah's witnez dnt atend churches,nd again nt evry 1 who goes 2 skul are der 2 achiv d aim of going 2 skul some are der 4 sucex nd sum are der 2 play or to fill among so dat pesn is'nt a jehovah witness

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