By Sarah Brown
Lebanon Local News
Former Lebanon police officer Brenton Wade Richmond, 50, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the February 2019 murders of Tammy Hopper and Erik Jacobs.
Richmond pleaded guilty in January to two counts of second-degree murder.
His sentencing hearing took place Feb. 18 at an improvised courtroom at the Linn County Fair & Expo Center in Albany, due to the closure of the county courthouse due to COVID restrictions.
The court heard testimony from friends, family, police and experts regarding Richmond’s history and the days leading up to the murders.
Testimonies indicated Richmond had a history of domestic violence and restraining orders with former girlfriends, and his ex-wife and son were on record as saying he could quickly become volatile, according to a psychologist. Richmond admitted he does not handle rejection well.
On the day of the murders, Feb. 9, 2019, Richmond said his son and son’s cousin were at home and being loud. Irritated by this, Richmond left and drove to Hopper’s house.
He saw Jacobs’ car in the driveway, and noticed all lights were out in the house. Richmond drove home, then later returned and parked his car around the block and walked to Hopper’s house.
He entered the house quietly and found Hopper and Jacobs naked in the bedroom.
An argument ensued and shots were fired. Richmond left after staging the scene in an attempt to make it look like Jacobs committed suicide, but he removed all the shell casings from the bedroom.
Richmond had said he had hope that him and Hopper, his former girlfriend, would get back together because they’d recently had sex.
Witnesses reported Hopper was afraid of Richmond and was considering getting a restraining order. She had also told friends that Richmond told her she’d be in a body bag if she was with another man.
Rebecca Millius, medical examiner, said Hopper died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso, and Jacobs died from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and head.
On the morning following the murders, Hopper’s son-in-law discovered the bodies.
Testimony also recounted an incident regarding Richmond in 2002, as a police officer, that involved a standoff with the SWAT team when Richmond threatened suicide by police.
Richmond is not eligible for parole for 50 years. If released, he will be under court supervision for the rest of his life, according to court records.