GUILTY OR - Mark Dribin, 42, Portland, 02 July 1999 *Christopher Charles Lovrien sentenced*
- Thread starter Kat
- Start date
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
Ken just called a little while ago and left me a message- I missed my phone, got a plumber here today- I'll call him back this evening, but there is a brand new article out today with bombshell new information about both cases that neither of us knew in the Oregonian. I had to locate it. Here it is: DNA from drinks at Portland pub helped ID suspected cold case killer
pizzaman12
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 1,780
- Reaction score
- 14,359
Yeah, I'd say that's a bombshell report given how long ago the crime was committed. Hoping for justice for you and your family
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
I just got off the phone with Ken. Apparently it was the Victim's Advocate who gave him a head's up about this article. It was published without authorization by the police, which is interesting. I learned that Ken found Lovrien's contact info in Mark's house- so that rules out a random druggie breakin for the motive. Apparently they knew each other. The question is how. Also the article mentioned a Deputy D.A. whom we haven't heard of before. Ken has not talked to the Griffin family, and the prosecutor hasn't asked him his opinion on separating the two cases into two trials, so we'll see what happens at the hearing in two weeks. Ken did decided though that if he comes up for the trial, he's flying because it's too far for him and his son to drive. (Ken is still working out though at his age, which is phenomenal!)
pizzaman12
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2019
- Messages
- 1,780
- Reaction score
- 14,359
Not all but broken down so parts
Court records filed by Multnomah County prosecutors shed new light on the case against Christopher Lovrien, 55, who was arrested two years ago in the 1991 killing of Mark Dribin, 42, and the 2020 death of Kenneth Griffin, 53.
Lovrien is accused of two counts of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and being a felon in possession of a gun. He is being held in the Multnomah County Jail and has pleaded not guilty.
At the time of Lovrien’s arrest, Portland police said they feared he had additional victims, though investigators said Monday they had not identified anyone else.
Portland cold case detectives reopened the Dribin case in 2019, sending DNA from the case to a lab for analysis.
Those tests hit on a potential match: One of three brothers was the likely suspect, according to court records.
Police quickly ruled out one of them. They then reached out to another brother, Jesse Lovrien, who said he wasn’t involved and his other brother, Christopher, wasn’t either.
The men refused to submit to DNA testing, according to prosecutors.
But a week later, Jesse Lovrien reached out again to the investigators. He and his brother said they would meet with detectives. They settled on the Horse Brass Pub, the English-style bar on Southeast Belmont Street.
During the meeting, Christopher Lovrien denied killing Dribin, but acknowledged that at the time he had been involved in a “criminal lifestyle” that involved methamphetamine and stealing cars, court records say.
The men again refused DNA tests and left.
Court records filed by Multnomah County prosecutors shed new light on the case against Christopher Lovrien, 55, who was arrested two years ago in the 1991 killing of Mark Dribin, 42, left, and the 2000 death of Kenneth Griffin, 53.
But three undercover detectives were also in the pub that night, keeping an eye on the drinks the brothers ordered, according to the court filing. They later collected the glasses to have them analyzed.
The results of that genetic genealogy analysis linked Christopher Lovrien to the DNA found throughout Dribin’s home, including on a bed sheet, and Dribin’s car.
Analysts often use DNA data in genetic genealogy investigations that mine open-source databases for potential links. Researchers typically use death and marriage records, data from family trees and home-based DNA tests that people upload into a public site.
The court records don’t spell out whether Lovrien had taken a genetic genealogy test to learn about his own family tree, but in the months before he was identified as a suspect, he and an acquaintance chatted about their family histories.
The record says cold case investigators reviewing the original case file said Dribin’s father had found a handwritten note in his son’s home with Lovrien’s name and contact information about the time the family went to sell Dribin’s home shortly after he had gone missing.
At the time he disappeared, his car was also gone, the court record records say. It was later found in the parking lot of a drug treatment facility – about 30 yards from the front door of the home where Lovrien lived at the time.
Lovrien’s jailhouse calls with Jesse led police to Griffin’s remains, the records show.
About 11 days after Lovrien’s arrest, he spoke with his brother by phone in a call monitored by investigators. The men discussed Lovrien’s house, located in the 12000 block of Southeast Foster Road.
Jesse Lovrien asked about the shed in his brother’s backyard. Christopher Lovrien was adamant: Don’t touch the shed. Keep it locked, he told his brother, the court filing says.
Six days later, Christopher Lovrien’s lawyer called police and gave them permission to open the shed.
Bring hazmat gear, he warned, according to court filings.
When police opened the shed, they discovered “three large totes that were sealed with the corners on each having been screwed shut,” court records say.
Griffin’s dismembered remains were found in the containers. An autopsy concluded he had suffered fatal “chop wounds” to the head, according to court records.
Lovrien testified before a grand jury and said he met Griffin at the 82nd Street Tavern and later took him to his house to meet his two dogs.
He said they smoked marijuana and ordered a pizza. He testified that he had let Griffin use his credit cards to pay for the food and that Griffin had not given him back the cards.
The two ended up fighting, he said, and at one point Lovrien “retrieved a crossbow” from a glass case and fired into Griffin’s chest and face multiple times. He testified that he then struck Griffin with an ax.
The court record notes the range of weapons Lovrien kept in the house. He had two long guns, two pistols and a wall where he hung hatchets, swords and knives. He also had a gladius, which prosecutors described in court records as a “short sword commonly used by ancient Roman foot soldiers.”
Lovrien left Griffin’s body in the house for three days, then dismembered the remains and stowed them in boxes, which he put in his shed, the records say.
Court records filed by Multnomah County prosecutors shed new light on the case against Christopher Lovrien, 55, who was arrested two years ago in the 1991 killing of Mark Dribin, 42, and the 2020 death of Kenneth Griffin, 53.
Lovrien is accused of two counts of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and being a felon in possession of a gun. He is being held in the Multnomah County Jail and has pleaded not guilty.
At the time of Lovrien’s arrest, Portland police said they feared he had additional victims, though investigators said Monday they had not identified anyone else.
Portland cold case detectives reopened the Dribin case in 2019, sending DNA from the case to a lab for analysis.
Those tests hit on a potential match: One of three brothers was the likely suspect, according to court records.
Police quickly ruled out one of them. They then reached out to another brother, Jesse Lovrien, who said he wasn’t involved and his other brother, Christopher, wasn’t either.
The men refused to submit to DNA testing, according to prosecutors.
But a week later, Jesse Lovrien reached out again to the investigators. He and his brother said they would meet with detectives. They settled on the Horse Brass Pub, the English-style bar on Southeast Belmont Street.
During the meeting, Christopher Lovrien denied killing Dribin, but acknowledged that at the time he had been involved in a “criminal lifestyle” that involved methamphetamine and stealing cars, court records say.
The men again refused DNA tests and left.
Court records filed by Multnomah County prosecutors shed new light on the case against Christopher Lovrien, 55, who was arrested two years ago in the 1991 killing of Mark Dribin, 42, left, and the 2000 death of Kenneth Griffin, 53.
But three undercover detectives were also in the pub that night, keeping an eye on the drinks the brothers ordered, according to the court filing. They later collected the glasses to have them analyzed.
The results of that genetic genealogy analysis linked Christopher Lovrien to the DNA found throughout Dribin’s home, including on a bed sheet, and Dribin’s car.
Analysts often use DNA data in genetic genealogy investigations that mine open-source databases for potential links. Researchers typically use death and marriage records, data from family trees and home-based DNA tests that people upload into a public site.
The court records don’t spell out whether Lovrien had taken a genetic genealogy test to learn about his own family tree, but in the months before he was identified as a suspect, he and an acquaintance chatted about their family histories.
The record says cold case investigators reviewing the original case file said Dribin’s father had found a handwritten note in his son’s home with Lovrien’s name and contact information about the time the family went to sell Dribin’s home shortly after he had gone missing.
At the time he disappeared, his car was also gone, the court record records say. It was later found in the parking lot of a drug treatment facility – about 30 yards from the front door of the home where Lovrien lived at the time.
Lovrien’s jailhouse calls with Jesse led police to Griffin’s remains, the records show.
About 11 days after Lovrien’s arrest, he spoke with his brother by phone in a call monitored by investigators. The men discussed Lovrien’s house, located in the 12000 block of Southeast Foster Road.
Jesse Lovrien asked about the shed in his brother’s backyard. Christopher Lovrien was adamant: Don’t touch the shed. Keep it locked, he told his brother, the court filing says.
Six days later, Christopher Lovrien’s lawyer called police and gave them permission to open the shed.
Bring hazmat gear, he warned, according to court filings.
When police opened the shed, they discovered “three large totes that were sealed with the corners on each having been screwed shut,” court records say.
Griffin’s dismembered remains were found in the containers. An autopsy concluded he had suffered fatal “chop wounds” to the head, according to court records.
Lovrien testified before a grand jury and said he met Griffin at the 82nd Street Tavern and later took him to his house to meet his two dogs.
He said they smoked marijuana and ordered a pizza. He testified that he had let Griffin use his credit cards to pay for the food and that Griffin had not given him back the cards.
The two ended up fighting, he said, and at one point Lovrien “retrieved a crossbow” from a glass case and fired into Griffin’s chest and face multiple times. He testified that he then struck Griffin with an ax.
The court record notes the range of weapons Lovrien kept in the house. He had two long guns, two pistols and a wall where he hung hatchets, swords and knives. He also had a gladius, which prosecutors described in court records as a “short sword commonly used by ancient Roman foot soldiers.”
Lovrien left Griffin’s body in the house for three days, then dismembered the remains and stowed them in boxes, which he put in his shed, the records say.
Niner
Long time Websleuther
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2003
- Messages
- 86,605
- Reaction score
- 291,400
Monday, June 6th:
*Motions (to Sever Trial) Hearing (both cases) (@ am PT) - OR – Mark Jeffrey Dribin (42) (last seen July 3, 1999, Portland, reported missing July 6, 1999; has not been found) - *Christopher Charles Lovrien (32 @ time of crime/52/now 53) indicted (4/30/20), arrested (5/4/20 by U.S. Marshalls), charged (5/4/20) & arraigned (5/5/20) with 2nd degree murder. Plead not guilty. No bond.
Forensic Genetic Genealogy match.
*OR – Kenneth Lee Griffin (53) (last seen Feb. 1, 2020 & reported missing on Feb. 2, 2020, Portland, found May 19, 2020 in Lovrien’s shed) - *Christopher Charles Lovrien (52/now 53) charged (3/10/21), indicted (4/30/20), re-indicted (3/10/21) & arraigned (3/11/21) with 2nd degree murder, abuse of a corpse & 6 counts of being a felon in possession of firearms. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Trial was set to begin on 2/28/22 continued to 9/30/22 with jury selection (at 8:30am) 12-person jury. Trial begins on 10/3/22.
Dribin: Court info from 5/5/20 thru 4/19/22 & Griffin: Court info from 3/16/21 thru 4/19/22 reference post #549 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...2-portland-02-july-1999-arrest.153627/page-28
4/22/22 Update: Case management hearing on 4/22/22 has been rescheduled on 4/25/22 @ 1:30pm. 4/25/22 Update: Case management hearing held. Judge Christopher Ramras presiding. Dep. DA Kirsten M. Snowden & defendant with privately retained attorney Ryan E. Scott. Order-postponement. Next sever hearing on 6/6/22. 4/26/22: Order appointing counsel: Philips as co-counsel. 5/20/22: State's response to defendant's Motion to Sever. 5/30/22: Memorandum-reply to Motion to Sever.
*Motions (to Sever Trial) Hearing (both cases) (@ am PT) - OR – Mark Jeffrey Dribin (42) (last seen July 3, 1999, Portland, reported missing July 6, 1999; has not been found) - *Christopher Charles Lovrien (32 @ time of crime/52/now 53) indicted (4/30/20), arrested (5/4/20 by U.S. Marshalls), charged (5/4/20) & arraigned (5/5/20) with 2nd degree murder. Plead not guilty. No bond.
Forensic Genetic Genealogy match.
*OR – Kenneth Lee Griffin (53) (last seen Feb. 1, 2020 & reported missing on Feb. 2, 2020, Portland, found May 19, 2020 in Lovrien’s shed) - *Christopher Charles Lovrien (52/now 53) charged (3/10/21), indicted (4/30/20), re-indicted (3/10/21) & arraigned (3/11/21) with 2nd degree murder, abuse of a corpse & 6 counts of being a felon in possession of firearms. Plead not guilty. Held without bond.
Trial was set to begin on 2/28/22 continued to 9/30/22 with jury selection (at 8:30am) 12-person jury. Trial begins on 10/3/22.
Dribin: Court info from 5/5/20 thru 4/19/22 & Griffin: Court info from 3/16/21 thru 4/19/22 reference post #549 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...2-portland-02-july-1999-arrest.153627/page-28
4/22/22 Update: Case management hearing on 4/22/22 has been rescheduled on 4/25/22 @ 1:30pm. 4/25/22 Update: Case management hearing held. Judge Christopher Ramras presiding. Dep. DA Kirsten M. Snowden & defendant with privately retained attorney Ryan E. Scott. Order-postponement. Next sever hearing on 6/6/22. 4/26/22: Order appointing counsel: Philips as co-counsel. 5/20/22: State's response to defendant's Motion to Sever. 5/30/22: Memorandum-reply to Motion to Sever.
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
Hearing time is 1:30PST. Will check back later for updates.
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
No information on the hearing posted other than it was held. Lovrien now has two attorneys -one paid for and one court appointed, which is interesting...
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
Okay so I did get an update on today's hearing- from Ken. He called to tell me about it. They were invited to view a webcast of the proceedings (not sure if by the prosecutor or victim's advocate), but they didn't have a camera or microphone to participate. Lovrien was present for the hearing and Ken observed that he's a big guy-(probably overpowered Mark and Griffin is my guess). The lead defense attorney Scott argued that it was "prejudicial" to try the cases together. So we now know what their defenses are going to be: He's claiming that we don't even know if Mark is dead- implying that he just walked away from his life and never contacted his family for over 20 years and abandoned his car, job, and house. (None of which Mark would do, plus there's the blood spatter). They are focusing on the paper which Ken found in Mark's house with Lovrien's contact information on it. For Griffin's case, he's going with Self-Defense, which is also laughable because it's his 2nd killing, and he dismembered the body. The judge agreed to take the motion "under advisement" and make his decision in a few weeks, hopefully as soon as two weeks. So we sit and wait again, but Ken wasn't aware that Lovrien's 2nd attorney is court-appointed and wants to look into why he has a court-appointed one when he has a paid attorney. I wondered if it was because Scott didn't have Death Penalty experience, but Ken doesn't think that that's the case. Just realized for anyone new to following this case- when I refer to Ken, it's Mark's father who is my first cousin, because I just saw the Griffin's first name is Ken too...
crhedBngr
Justice for Danielle Stislicki
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2015
- Messages
- 5,872
- Reaction score
- 49,563
Niner
Long time Websleuther
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2003
- Messages
- 86,605
- Reaction score
- 291,400
Could you tell me "what time" the 9/16 motions hearing starts - it seems to be cut off from you post above. TIA!
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
The motion hearing was at 1:30 yesterday. I didn't find out the time until 1:26pm because they take down the OJD server on the weekends for maintenance apparently. The update from Ken is on my post #571. The judge didn't make a decision yet, he's taking it up on advisement.Could you tell me "what time" the 9/16 motions hearing starts - it seems to be cut off from you post above. TIA!
Niner
Long time Websleuther
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2003
- Messages
- 86,605
- Reaction score
- 291,400
Actually I meant the next motions hearing on 9/16 - your post #570 - it is "cut off" at the end of image you posted. TIA!
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
I'll have to check later, it won't let me on right now.
LinasK
Verified insider- Mark Dribin case
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2004
- Messages
- 26,880
- Reaction score
- 24,384
Update: It's not on OJD yet, but Ken just called to tell me- the Victim's Advocate notified him this morning that the judge decided that there will only be one trial for both cases. We are happy about this because we feel that together there is a much stronger case against Lovrien since they recovered Griffin's body, and it shows a pattern of violence. This will blow a hole in his defense that Mark walked away from his life. Next hearing is Sept. 16th.