Cavan indicted on murder and other charges

Published 9:48 am Thursday, March 13, 2025

JOHN DAY — The man accused of killing his girlfriend in a John Day motel room is facing additional charges after a grand jury issued an indictment in the case.

Gary Dylan Cavan, 42, was arraigned March 6 in Grant County Circuit Court on a single count of second-degree murder in the Feb. 28 slaying of Janelle Klaar, a 41-year-old woman from Lincoln City.

Cavan was back in court on Wednesday, March 12, for a second arraignment hearing. He appeared by video from the Grant County Jail, where he is being held without bail, and did not speak during the hearing.

In addition to the murder charge, he now faces five more charges in connection with Klaar’s killing.

Klaar’s body was discovered by employees of the John Day Motel on Feb. 28, triggering a manhunt that concluded with Cavan’s arrest March 5 near the old Sags Motel outside Prairie City.

The additional charges in the indictment consist of three counts of first-degree burglary, a Class A felony, one count of second-degree burglary, a Class C felony, and one Class C misdemeanor of third-degree theft. The state has accused Cavan of unlawfully entering Room 204 at the John Day Motel on two occasions with the intent to commit murder. The state in one of the charges alleges Cavan used or threatened to use a hammer, which law enforcement suspect is the murder weapon.The second-degree burglary charge alleges Cavan broke into the Sags Motel, where he was hiding until authorities caught him. The states also accused Cavan iof stealing property worth less than $100, thus the misdemeanor theft charge.

Associates face charges

Cavan’s mother, Mickie Lynn Turner, and her boyfriend, Richard Earl States, were also indicted by the grand jury, on accusations of helping Cavan flee and hide from authorities.

Both Turner and States face two Class C felony counts of hindering prosecution.

The charges against Turner state that she aided in providing her son with transportation following the killing and that she harbored or concealed him after the crime.

The charges against States are almost identical, stating that he provided or helped provide transportation for the fugitive and harbored or concealed him from authorities.

Tobias Tingleaf, a senior assistant attorney general with the Oregon Department of Justice, is prosecuting the case. Kati Dunn of Canyon City-based Strawberry Mountain Law is representing Cavan.

Tingleaf and Dunn both declined to comment on the case.

Cavan is scheduled to appear in Grant County Circuit Court on May 12 for a plea hearing.

Turner has a plea hearing scheduled for April 14. No proceedings are scheduled in the case against States at this time.

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