In the early morning hours of January 27, 2016, 44-year-old Thadd Nelson, a White male, was shot and killed in the driveway of his home near Meacham, Oregon, on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Nelson, a general contractor known for his outgoing and charismatic personality, had returned home to discover someone attempting to steal one of his vehicles. What transpired next resulted in his death from gunshot wounds.
A woman who was with Nelson at the time managed to escape unharmed.
Within hours of the shooting, law enforcement arrested three men in connection with the crime: Joseph Aaron McIver, Edward Duarte Ayala, and Armando Vargas. A fourth individual, Nicholas Benjamin Jones, was later implicated. The investigation revealed that a group of five individuals had driven from Hermiston to Nelson's residence with at least six loaded firearms.
The legal proceedings that followed were complex, involving both state and federal charges. Initially, McIver was charged with murder by the Umatilla County District Attorney. However, these charges were dismissed when federal prosecutors indicted McIver, Ayala, and Vargas on weapons charges, a common occurrence in cases involving Indian lands. The investigation determined that two different weapons were used to kill Nelson.
Ultimately, the suspects faced a combination of federal and state charges. Edward Duarte Ayala pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit burglary, receiving a 16-year state sentence to run concurrently with a 20-year federal sentence for gun crimes. Joseph Aaron McIver also entered into a plea agreement, pleading guilty to felon in possession of a firearm at the federal level and first-degree conspiracy to commit burglary and second-degree manslaughter at the state level. Armando Ruben Vargas also accepted a plea deal. Nicholas Benjamin Jones was later charged with weapons offenses in connection to the case. During the investigation, a gun connected to the homicide was discovered by a Department of Transportation employee near Old Highway 30.
