Oregon: A murder suspect runs out of the courthouse after being unleashed

A murder suspect who was unleashed during his trial – as required by law – ran away.

Edi Villalobos, 28, was escorted by two sheriff’s deputies to the Washington County Courthouse to stand trial for allegedly killing a relative and stabbing an unrelated man.

Surveillance footage shows one of the MPs removing Villalobo’s handcuffs. The defendant then sits in a chair next to a table and the deputy unties his ankles.

Wearing black trousers and a blue shirt, Villalobos walks to a chair in the center of the table he is to be seated in, puts his hand over it and storms out of the courtroom.

“When it comes to removing the cuffs, that’s what Oregon law requires us to do,” a spokesman for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office told KATU.

Both deputies ran after Villalobos, one after the other, but the defendant ran away from them out the courtroom door.

Surveillance footage from other cameras throughout the courthouse documents Villalobos’ escape. He continued ahead of the deputies down the hall. Villalobos hopped in front of a woman and almost grabbed a man as he ran through a staff-only door.

A manhunt for Villalobos followed, in which drones were also used.

It wasn’t until about two hours later that someone reported a person attempting to break into an apartment on Block 300 of Southeast 4th Avenue that deputies arrested Villalobos. He hid under a blanket in a closet in the apartment.

Villalobos was indicted by a grand jury over his February 27 escape.

His trial has been postponed.

Villalobos is accused of stabbing his mother’s partner, Artemio Guzman-Olvera, 33, and fleeing in a vehicle in April 2021. He allegedly stabbed Saul Antonio Ramirez Aguierre, 26, at an apartment complex a few hours later, The Oregonian reported the time.

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