Murder suspect scheduled to enter plea June 11

Published 8:15 am Monday, March 31, 2025

The Baker City man accused of second-degree murder in the March 20 shooting death of another Baker City man is scheduled to enter a plea on June 11 in Baker County Circuit Court.

A grand jury has also indicted Caleb James Mansuetti, 23, with menacing, a Class A misdemeanor; pointing a firearm at another person, a misdemeanor; two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, a Class C felony; and felon in possession of a firearm, a Class C felony.

Mansuetti is accused of shooting Brandon Allen Chase, 35, while Chase was in his pickup truck on Ohio Street in south Baker City.

Murder is a Measure 11 crime in Oregon, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years on conviction.

Judge Lung S. Hung set the June 11 plea hearing after a five-minute hearing Monday morning, March 31, in Baker County Circuit Court.

Mansuetti, who was arrested March 24 and is being held without bail at the Baker County Jail, appeared by video, as did the judge, who is presiding over the case in place of Matt Shirtcliff, who recused himself due to a potential conflict of interest.

Kyra Rohner, who is representing Mansuetti, and Baker County District Attorney Greg Baxter were in the courtroom for the hearing.

The Baker County Major Crimes team investigated the shooting, with Baker City Police Sgt. Wayne Chastain the lead investigator, according to the probable cause affidavit Chastain wrote.

According to the Baker County Dispatch log, a 911 caller reported at 9:07 p.m. that a man had been shot. Police found Chase in his vehicle in the 2200 block of Ohio Street, just west of David Eccles Road.

Pioneer Ambulance took Chase to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center-Baker City, and he was later flown to another hospital, according to a press release from the Baker City Police Department.

Chase was shot once in the head, according to Chastain’s affidavit. Chastain wrote that he found two empty 9 mm handgun cartridges in the middle of Ohio Street.

Chastain wrote that when he responded to the report of gunshots being fired, he found Chase’s blue 1991 Ford F-250 pickup truck on Ohio Street, with its engine running.

Chastain wrote that he interviewed several residents of the area, just east of Highway 7, who heard multiple gunshots near Ohio Street and shortly after saw a dark-colored car driving away.

Chastain wrote that he watched closed-circuit video from the Stump Dodger station at Highway 7 and David Eccles Road. The footage showed a black Cadillac driving north on Highway 7 and turning east onto Indiana Avenue at 9:06 p.m. Chastain wrote that he knows Mansuetti drives a black Cadillac.

Just after the Cadillac turned onto Indiana, Chase’s pickup truck also turned onto Indiana and drove up behind the Cadillac, and then pulling up to the driver’s side of the Cadillac. About 20 seconds later, Chastain wrote, Chase’s pickup started rolling forward. The Cadillac’s brake lights illuminated and the reverse light blinked momentarily, as though the driver had shifted into drive. The Cadillac then drove east on Ohio Street and went out of the camera’s view.

About a minute later, Chastain wrote, the Cadillac returned, driving fast and heading north on Fourth Street. The Cadillac ran the stop sign at David Eccles Road and then turned north onto Rose Street and went out of view. Chastain wrote that he knows Mansuetti lives at 1037 Rose St. Another residential camera showed a black Cadillac speeding down Rose Street at 9:07 p.m. and parking in front of 1037 Rose St.

Chastain wrote that on March 22 he interviewed a man who said he was with Mansuetti at Mansuetti’s home the night of the shooting. The man told Chastain that Mansuetti had a Glock 9 mm pistol and that they went driving around South Baker. He told Chastain that he told Mansuetti he needed to go home, and they left, with Mansuetti driving his black Cadillac.

The man said Mansuetti asked him if he wanted to do a “slide” — slang for a drive-by shooting. The man told Chastain that Mansuetti said someone driving a tan Honda had been “harassing” him, and that Mansuetti followed a tan Honda into the Stump Dodger parking lot. Chastain wrote that he confirmed that by watching the gas station video.

The man with Mansuetti told Chastain that Mansuetti continued driving and eventually noticed a blue pickup truck following them and revving its engine. The man said Mansuetti stopped the Cadillac in the middle of the street and that the pickup pulled beside the Cadillac on the driver’s side.

He told Chastain that although he couldn’t see what happened because the Cadillac’s windows are tinted, he heard Mansuetti arguing with a man and then heard a gun being cocked. The man said he heard a male voice, not Mansuetti’s, yell “wait,” immediately followed by a single gunshot.

The man told Chastain that Mansuetti fired a second shot toward the pickup, which rolled forward.

The felon in possession of a firearm charge stems from Mansuetti’s 2021 conviction for unlawful use of a weapon and menacing. Mansuetti pointed an AR-15-style rifle at a couple during what police described as a “road rage” incident July 12, 2021, in Baker City. The incident happened in the 3300 block of Birch St., according to a press release from the Baker City Police Department. Mansuetti was sentenced to 25 days in the county jail and three years of probation.

 

Jayson has worked at the Baker City Herald since November 1992, starting as a reporter. He has been editor since December 2007. He graduated from the University of Oregon Journalism School in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in news-editorial journalism.

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