By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
The father of a man charged with stomping a tourist to death outside a Lincoln City motel last month had warned police months earlier that his son had become “very violent” and was hearing voices telling him to kill someone.
Roland Evans-Freke, 30, is accused of second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault and robbery in the death of Bradley Cole, 69, of Milwaukie in the parking lot of the Ashley Inn the night of May 14. He was trying to take away Cole’s dog, police said.
Cole and his wife, Debbie, had stopped by Spirit Mountain Casino that day before making their way to Lincoln City to celebrate their 37th anniversary.
“This is the kind of thing they’ve done forever,” a son, Travis Cole, told Portland television station KPTV.
By 10 o’clock that night Bradley Cole was dead after being kicked, punched and kneed repeatedly while resisting Evans-Freke’s attempts to take his dog, according to police and court reports.
Five months earlier Newport police had arrested Evans-Freke for unlawfully carrying concealed weapons — several knives and sharpened throwing cards. He was taken into custody Dec. 4 and released from jail Dec. 21.
During proceedings in February and March, Lincoln County Circuit Judge Sheryl Bachart set several conditions for his release, asked for reviews to see if Evans-Freke was mentally capable to assist in his defense, and scheduled a trial for June 20.
Part of the December case file was a probable cause affidavit by the Newport officer who arrested Evans-Freke. The officer said the suspect’s father was in town trying to have his son involuntarily committed because “he has become very violent.”
Involuntary commitments are hard to do and require expert evaluations, court hearings and a judge finding clear and convincing evidence that the person has a mental disorder and is dangerous to themselves or others. There is no public court record in Lincoln County that such a hearing took place.
According to multiple websites and news stories, Evans-Freke’s father, Stephen Evans-Freke, is a retired Wall Street investment banker who has lived in the Virgin Islands since 2008. One court document says he supports his three sons, including one “because of his health issues …”
In a probable cause affidavit filed Dec. 5, Newport police officer Jack Grippin wrote that Stephen Evans-Freke said his son was schizophrenic, bipolar, had severe paranoia and was not on any medication. The father told police that his son “has become very violent” and twice previously had been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric unit, according to Grippin’s affidavit.
“Stephen stated that Roland is hearing voices telling him to kill someone,” Grippin’s affidavit said. “Stephen had safety concerns for me due to his son’s behavior and stated officers ‘will need to have Tasers ready’.”
The father also told Griffin that his son had punched a social worker “a couple of days ago” after becoming very violent and was trained in mixed martial arts.
Lincoln City police used Tasers several times to subdue Evans-Freke as they arrested him May 14, according to police and court reports.
Sent for treatment
On Monday, Bachart ordered Evans-Freke to the Oregon State Hospital in Salem for up to three years of treatment after a hearing where he was found not fit to proceed to trial. Evans-Freke would still face the charges and a trial if treatment is successful.
In her commitment order, Bachart relied on a report from a mental health evaluator, her own inquiries and observations during Friday’s hearing, and statements from attorneys. Details of those documents are sealed from public view.
It is unclear from records where Evans-Freke lived, but his attorney, Elizabeth Baker of Eugene, said he was not homeless. He was facing minor charges in Deschutes County and was described in those reports as homeless. Lincoln County documents listed addresses in Depoe Bay and Newport where he may have stayed.
Baker said in an email to YachatsNews that law enforcement representatives conducted a welfare check on Evans-Freke two days before the parking lot killing but did not take him into custody.
“… given they were aware of his history and law enforcement contacts the entire event wouldn’t have occurred if they’d done their job,” attorney Elizabeth Baker of Eugene said in an email to YachatsNews.
The killing of a tourist outraged some in the Lincoln City community who railed on social media that the incident represented what could happen if homeless or transients were attracted to the area with services from local governments or social service agencies.
Although many court documents are sealed, those that are public give no indication that Evans-Freke had used local social services.
“His housing situation is not the issue,” Baker said in an email to YachatsNews. “The issue, as I see it, is law enforcement and their willingness to take action. Secondarily, but with full partnership in responsibility, is the community’s willingness to fund urgent mental health intake/assessment to keep mentally ill persons out of our criminal system and provide treatment. Mental illness is a medical problem. The longer we continue to fund law enforcement without realizing they are ill equipped to manage/recognize serious medical conditions, the more we will see incidents such as this.”
The family aftermath
Attempts to contact the extended Cole family this week were unsuccessful.
The Coles have a daughter, two sons and four grandchildren, according to a GoFundMe account set up by a son-in-law, Adam Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said Bradley Cole’s grandchildren “loved spending time with him every Saturday for pancakes and he was famous for his spaghetti dinners, which were so beloved they were requested for many of their birthday parties.”
“Brad brought joy to the room. He loved you, even if he barely knew you. He wanted to know your story, make you laugh and to make sure you were taken care of. Never himself before you.”
He said Debbie Cole had recently retired “and is at a loss on what the next chapter will look like without her loving and supportive husband, Brad.”
- Quinton Smith is the editor of YachatsNews.com and can be reached at YachatsNews@gmail.com
So he’s now involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital because he’s been deemed incapable of standing trial to answer his criminal charges due to mental psychosis, but he couldn’t have been involuntarily committed after being committed twice previously, before he stomped to death another human being? This is the definition of a system that isn’t serving the larger cause.
I am a former psychiatric nurse that worked in different states during my career. An involuntary commitment isn’t that difficult in most states. It is easy to get a 72 hour hold for an evaluation but require paperwork. It should have been done immediately he stated homicidal ideation and after he attacked the social worker. Each state seems to have its own criteria but suicidal or homicidal ideation is number one in all of them.
The victim’s family should bring a suit against the state and any other officials who allowed the suspect to walk the streets knowing he was a danger to the public. This is happening way to often — violent criminals and the mentally ill allowed to commit offense after offense ultimately leading to the death of an innocent victims while our leaders twiddle their thumbs. It’s disgusting and the only thing that will get their attention is hitting them in the pocketbook. My deepest condolences to his family.
Sounds like he fell through the cracks. I hope he gets the help he needs and also is well enough to answer to what he did. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims family. So sad.
He didn’t fall through the cracks. Things have been changed making it extremely difficult to get any help for these kind of issues, partly because they have rights and they will sometimes send someone out to evaluate the person but if they aren’t a threat at that time or seem ok to the person doing the evaluation at the time and not a threat to themselves, then nothing happens, absolutely nothing. I know where people made calls to the police on 7 to 9 occasions in a 3 month period and they could not get anything done. It is much harder than anyone that has made a comment knows.
Having experienced Lincoln City’s Barney Fife response to an extremely serious situation, I’m skeptical of their work. Follow up with mayor and chief did me no good.
Too little, too late. After he punched the social worker, he should have been committed to a psychiatric hospital then. The judicial process failed. He shouldn’t have been free roaming the streets. Isn’t it strange that the murderer of Mr. Cole isn’t competent to stand trial now, but he wasn’t considered unstable enough to be in psychiatric care before killing Mr. Cole? There were previous criminal events & several warnings given by his own dad that his son was psychotic. Our judicial system has failed. Not one person is to blame. The whole network is broken. Again, too little, too late. – I’m so sorry that Brad Cole died that way, & I’m so sorry for Debbie Cole & her family. It could have been avoided.