PORTLAND, Ore. — A man who pleaded guilty to an Oregon murder in exchange for buckets of fried chicken will get calzones and pizza to go with his life sentence.
Tremayne Durham, 33, of New York last month admitted to fatally shooting Adam Calbreath in June 2006. Durham wanted to sell ice cream and ordered an $18,000 truck from an Oregon company. Durham later changed his mind, but the company wouldn’t provide a refund.
The would-be ice cream man came to Oregon and killed Calbreath, a former employee of the company, while looking for the owner.
Durham agreed to plead guilty to murder last month, but only if he could get a break from jail food. The judge agreed, and granted Durham a feast of KFC chicken, Popeye’s chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake and ice cream.
After Wednesday’s sentencing, his defense attorney confirmed, Durham gets the rest of the deal — calzones, lasagna, pizza and ice cream.
Durham also got married Wednesday in a civil ceremony at the courthouse in Portland. The wedding to Vanessa Davis, 48, also of New York, was not part of the plea deal that will give Durham a chance for parole after 30 years.
Deputy District Attorney Josh Lamborn said Multnomah County Judge Eric Bergstrom made the right call in allowing the unusual plea agreement because it saved the expense of a trial and possible appeals.
Lamborn said Durham — who has asked to serve his sentence close to New York — caused trouble during his two years in the county jail. Durham faked suicide, choked an inmate half his size until the inmate passed out, threatened to hijack a jail transport vehicle and broke a window in an attempt to escape.
At Wednesday’s sentencing, the father of Adam Calbreath told the judge to put “this animal” where he belongs.
“You hear that?” Michael Calbreath asked Durham. “I called you an animal.”
Durham showed little reaction to the remarks. Soon after, he read a written statement, turning toward Calbreath at the end.
“I want to apologize for the pain that I have caused to those people who knew and cared for Adam Calbreath,” Durham said. “I hope that by accepting responsibility for my actions, by abandoning my trial and my appeals and by accepting a sentence of life in prison, it will help to bring closure to everyone.”
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
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