The three suspects – Jenna Montgomery, 15, Blue Christian Kalmbach, 15, and Jess Taylor, 17, – have been charged as adults with kidnapping, robbery, assault, and menacing and are being held on nearly $3 million bail each.
A 14-year-old, also accused of taking part, will be tried as a juvenile. According to court documents, Montgomery told police detectives that she was the ‘bait’ to lure the 16-year-old victim, Murrain, to the shed where the alleged assault took place. The teens were after the victim’s skateboard and cash, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Court documents allege that when Dustyn walked into the shed with Jenna, Blue struck him in the back of the head with a crowbar, then shot him with a BB gun in the chest, groin and index finger. Finally, authorities say, Blue used a box-cutter to carve a swastika into Dustyn’s forehead.
Now this is where you discover the low level of intelligence the captors possess. The suspects told Dustyn they wanted his skateboard and money and freed him to retrieve the items, according to a court document. He fled to a nearby business for help.
All five teenagers were enrolled at Portland’s David Douglas High School, but most of the suspects had attendance problems, Principal John Bier the media. Two had “severe” truancy issues and the third was in the process of transferring to an alternative high school, he said
Why the swastika carving on his face? A swastika is universally considered a racist and anti-Semitic symbol that was popularized by brutal dictator Adolf Hitler and Germany’s Third Reich prior to World War II. Some American white supremacist groups have adopted the symbol as a way to communicate their disdain for blacks, Jews and other minorities.
“It’s not clear whether the wound on Dustyn’s forehead will scar. Kelli Murrain said her son will wear a silicon patch there to help with the healing,” said the detective on the case, according to the Oregonian.
Kelli Murrain, the victim’s mom, also had this to say:
“There is no understanding what they did. Roll it around in your head and you just go, ‘Oh my God.’ For the grace of God I could have lost my youngest son.’ He’s been severely traumatized not just physically, but emotionally. It’s something he’s gonna live with forever, especially if the scar of (a) swastika doesn’t go away. Every time he looks in the mirror he’s gonna have that memory.”
