On a Tuesday morning in March 2017, the lives of two men were cut short in the rural community of Beavercreek, Oregon. Thomas Lee Hegar, a 50-year-old White male, and his companion, 40-year-old Dustin Louis Childress, were dropped off near a forested property on South Upper Highland Road. The two men then entered the private property, a decision that would have fatal consequences. Shortly after trespassing, the situation escalated dramatically.
At approximately 10:15 a.m. on March 14, 2017, one of the women who had dropped the men off received a frantic phone call from Childress. He reported that they were being shot at and that Hegar had been wounded as they tried to flee. For hours, their whereabouts remained unknown. It wasn't until 5:46 p.m. that one of the women called 911 to report her concern, prompting a search of the area by Clackamas County Sheriff's deputies.
With the consent of the property owner, Robert John Hilands, deputies searched his land. Near the front gate, they made a grim discovery: the concealed bodies of both Hegar and Childress. The county medical examiner would later confirm that both men died from gunshot wounds. During the investigation, Hilands agreed to be interviewed by detectives and ultimately confessed to shooting the two men.
Robert John Hilands, who was 33 at the time, was arrested and subsequently charged with two counts of aggravated murder and unlawful use of a weapon. The investigation suggested that Hilands shot the men for trespassing on his property. However, the legal proceedings took a different turn. In 2019, Hilands was declared mentally unfit to stand trial and was committed to the Oregon State Hospital. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, among other conditions, leading a judge to determine he was a danger to himself and others and could not assist in his own defense.
