White / Caucasian Charmaine Crunk, 50, was found dead on January 2, 2018, after Medford police conducted a welfare check at a home on the 1200 block of Covina Avenue when she didn’t arrive at work that morning. Officers saw someone unresponsive through the window, forced entry, and discovered two people deceased inside: Charmaine Crunk, 50, and Eric Hilsenberg, 51. Both had gunshot wounds. Investigators at the scene concluded it was an apparent murder-suicide.
Detectives determined that the man, identified as Eric Hilsenberg, was the suspected shooter who fatally shot Charmaine Crunk, 50, before taking his own life. Neighbors described the discovery as a shock, and news reports emphasized that police treated the case as a murder-suicide from the outset, with no outstanding threat to the community.
Family accounts added context to the relationship between Charmaine Crunk, 50, and Hilsenberg. According to her brother, the pair had been together for roughly 12–13 years, and the relationship had become psychologically abusive. She had ended it the prior year and, for a time, they remained roommates while she made plans to move out and begin a new chapter. These details, shared publicly in the days after the deaths, helped explain why police regarded Hilsenberg as the suspect and reinforced the conclusion that the incident was domestic in nature.
No arrests were made in connection with the death of Charmaine Crunk, 50, because the suspected perpetrator, Eric Hilsenberg, 51, died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Subsequent listings in regional and national archives of gun-violence victims recorded her death on January 2, 2018, in Medford, Oregon, consistent with the investigators’ findings.
