In the early morning hours of March 28, 2015, a long-simmering conflict between two cousins in Northeast Portland, Oregon, erupted in fatal violence. Arthur James Palmer III, a 46-year-old Black / African American man, was shot and killed in his front yard. The man who pulled the trigger was his own cousin, 51-year-old William Palmer Heyser, who lived next door.
The two had been embroiled in an ongoing dispute, the details of which culminated in this tragic end to their "love-hate" relationship.
Responding to a call at approximately 1:09 a.m. on Northeast Morris Street, police officers discovered Arthur Palmer in his yard with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Heyser remained at the residence with other family members and was promptly arrested by the authorities. A shotgun, believed to be the murder weapon, was also recovered at the scene.
Following his arrest, William Palmer Heyser was charged with murder, with the specification of it constituting domestic violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. A grand jury later indicted him on these charges. He was held in the Multnomah County Inverness Jail as he awaited trial for the killing of his cousin. The case highlighted the devastating consequences of familial disputes turning violent.
