DAILY UPDATES: Wrongful Death Trial — Freddy Nelson, Jr.
Check back daily for informed thoughts on the latest testimony, evidence, and arguments
The trial in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of murder victim Freddy Nelson, Jr. began this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court. I’ve been following the case closely, staying on top of all the recent filings, and am watching the trial via remote feed. Important: This is not a live blog, it’s a brief recap of only some of the day’s important high (and low) points.
DAY 1 (9/5/24): Opening arguments by Plaintiffs, TMT Development, and Cornerstone Security Group
The attorney for the Plaintiffs, Thomas D’Amore, opened the trial by telling the juror’s about TMT’s “zero tolerance policy” for infractions on their property; and then displayed a copy of Cornerstone’s policy of “Smile, be polite, be professional, BUT HAVE A PLAN TO KILL EVERYONE YOU MEET.” D’Amore was careful to make it clear that the boldness and capitalization of the directive were Cornerstone’s emphasis, not his own.
He also warned the jurors that they were going to hear some attacks on the victim, that he was a meth user, that there were incidents of domestic violence and issues with his children, and that they were homeless. D’Amore exhibited photos of the converted bus in which the Nelsons lived, and which they took great care of. He finished by stating that the case was in part about showing corporations that they cannot just do this kind of thing, even to homeless and transient people.
The attorney for TMT Development, Sharon Collier, followed and leaned heavily into the Nelsons’ homelessness, and how big of a hellhole Delta Park was — which is interesting, considering that Delta Park is her client’s property. She made the claim that when families came to Lowe’s, their kids were attracted to the grassy areas, where they were getting stuck with used hypodermic needles. [Things that never happened for $500.]
TMT strongly disavowed having the “zero tolerance policy,” and mentioned several more times the Nelsons’ homelessness.
Most jarringly, TMT’s lawyer stated that she was not there to tell the jurors that what happened to Nelson was okay, or that he deserved what happened to him, but… that there was “no evidence that [Nelson’s widow or her family] were harmed.” Remember: Kari Nelson witnessed her husband’s murder from about five feet. The lawyer continued, Mrs. Nelson “got therapy and her symptoms have improved,” she “moved to South Dakota,” she has “family support,” she “no longer does drugs,” she “has a full time job and just got a promotion,” and she has a “better relationship with her children.” So, apparently we should believe that it all worked out in the end.
The attorney estimated the family’s claims to be worth only six million dollars, far less than the 200 million the family prays for.
Cornerstone Security Group’s attorney, C.J. Martin, began her opening argument before trial ended for the day. She portrayed her clients as caught in the middle of a power struggle between TMT and one of its tenants, BottleDrop; and she insisted that the shooter Logan Gimbel was properly licensed and certified at the time of Nelson’s murder, and that the shooting was appropriate given his training.
Maybe she was nervous, but in my opinion, her demeanor was strange, and at times actually inappropriate for such a serious case: she was smiling excessively — and giggling — and made an unfunny joke about Dick’s, a sporting goods store also at Delta Park. It may have been a controlling tactic, but another attorney even had to ask her to slow down.
DAY 2 (9/6/24): BottleDrop, and expert witnesses in the fields of shopping center management and private security
Cornerstone continued its opening argument, and, with a slide exhibited which stated “Freddy Nelson Jr. *2012 — Cocaine Use; *2016 — Moved to Northwest,” the attorney, C.J. Martin, launched into some comments about coke, to which plaintiffs’ attorney objected. After a brief pause, Judge Leslie Bottomly apologized and admitted that she “wasn’t listening.”
Okay! Martin then continued to portray Nelson as a rollercoaster ride of a human being, prone to fighting over pallets and flipping off authority. She stated, “You didn’t know what Freddy you were going to get,” and that, in another exchange, that a TMT employee had spoken with “reasonableFreddy Nelson.”
Martin did concede that shooter Logan Gimbel, employed by Cornerstone, “made some mistakes” and “came in pretty hot,” which is quite an understatement, if you’ve seen the bodycam footage.
She played video of the shooting, and replayed it so that jurors could see the car lurching forward seconds before Nelson was killed. “That’s the first hit,” Martin claimed, referring to the alleged contact between the car and Gimbel, and implying that jurors were about to see a second hit. (That argument didn’t work for Gimbel’s criminal defense, though.)
Lowe’s attorney followed with a brief opening argument, directing all blame toward Gimbel.
The first witness called was Jules Bailey, an exec at BottleDrop — TMT’s tenant at Delta Park shopping center, and ground zero for the tension that underlies this suit. Bailey’s testimony was somewhat stilted and reserved, and did not appear to satisfy lawyers from any side, but he did admit two important things: That TMT never provided any proof or specifics to back up their claim that BottleDrop’s customers were violent and disorderly (nor did Bailey personally witness any crime, violence, or drug dealing); and that he had explicitly and firmly forewarned about mixing armed security with BottleDrop’s vulnerable clientele.
Following Bailey were two expert witnesses/professionals — one in the field of shopping center leasing, management, and security; and the other in the field of security training.
Both unequivocally stated that they believed that armed guards have no business at shopping centers — even total shitholes like TMT’s Delta Park shopping center. The first witness also admonished TMT and Lowe’s management for their deficient lease, which left fundamental issues of boundaries and common areas unresolved.
He had even stronger words for the one-page contract with Cornerstone that TMT President and CEO Vanessa Sturgeon signed. He laid into Sturgeon for her lack of involvement in negotiating the contract, investigating Cornerstone, and failing to visit her own property frequently when all hell was breaking loose. He stated that he saw this negligence in “so many communications” and derided TMT’s attitude that, “gosh, we just don’t know very much about security,” so it’s best left “to the professionals.”
If only TMT had put as much care and time into hiring Cornerstone as it did in hassling BottleDrop at the onset of covid.
DAY 3 (9/9/24): Former Cornerstone guard, paramedic, and TMT employee Brian Hug
After wrapping up the testimony of the expert witness on security training, a former Cornerstone officer was sworn in, whose story regarding DPSST (the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training) was similar to that of shooter Logan Gimbel: She believed she was properly certified as soon as training was complete; and she also mailed in her paperwork, and DPSST never received it or sent her the “hard card” she was supposed to keep on her person. She worked without such a card for months, and nobody at Cornerstone was troubled by it.
She was troubled by the environment at the company, and even saw two guards pointing their tasers at one another. Asked why she quit less than a year later? “I felt that if I continued to work at Cornerstone, there would be an incident which could cost me my security license.”
Next up was a paramedic who happened to be shopping at Lowe’s with his wife at the time of the murder. His training kicked in when he heard shots, and within minutes he was in the front seat, putting pressure on Nelson’s chest wound, and making sure Gimbel knew he was “fucking useless” for failing to assist in rendering aid. When asked what gear the car was in, he stated that “it was in park” and that the engine “was still running.”
For the second half of the day, former TMT Development employee Brian Hug was grilled about the company’s “Zero Tolerance Policy” — a policy which TMT desperately needs jurors to believe did not actually exist. Spoiler: it clearly did.
Hug’s testimony was all over the place, first denying the existence of the policy; then effectively admitting it; then seemingly taking credit for personally coining the term “zero tolerance”; and finally, trying to explain it as an inartful term for “no grey area” when it comes to “family friendly behavior.” Yeah, so precisely a “zero tolerance policy!”
He relayed an incident in which Nelson allegedly stirred the pot by telling a Black man that Hug had used the n-word, but couldn’t recall¹ the Cornerstone guard who witnessed the incident. He also spoke about seeing a “bare butt” in a squad car — an officer having sex while on duty — and immediately thinking that it was “time for a change” of security firms.
Hug will be on the stand again tomorrow morning, picking up where things left off: ‘things’ being TMT’s apparent culture of hostility against homeless people.
¹ It was revealed well into his testimony that Hug had suffered a head injury a month or so before Nelson’s murder. The effects from that injury appear to have impacted his ability to process questions, and his answers came after uncomfortably long pauses.
DAY 4 (9/10/24): Medical professionals, a former Cornerstone officer, and Freddy Nelson’s son and friend
Brian Hug finished up his time on the stand this morning, but was followed by a Black friend of Nelson, who contradicted Hug’s testimony about the n-word incident. He also described the Nelsons as a loving couple who were working to restore the man’s RV, calling Freddy’s work on it as careful, with great attention to detail.
Another security professional followed, who had worked for Cornerstone for 243 days and resigned due to “operational difficulties” in the company, as well as a poor work-life balance. He also complained of TMT employees trying to tell him how to arrest people and how to handle contacts with the public, in general. He stated that it was not appropriate for TMT — who had no experience in security — to be directing Cornerstone’s officers so closely.
He gave testimony about the concerning frequency of pepper spray deployed against the belongings of homeless people: The spray is supposed to be used against “aggressive people,” and “belongings cannot be aggressive.”
Two doctors then testified about Nelson’s injuries, and that he was in pain in the moments before his death. Incredibly, upon cross-examination, one of the lawyers pushed back, deducing that the doctor had “inferred” that Nelson was in pain, based on the doctor’s experience treating other gunshot victims who had survived their wounds and were able to describe the level of pain they were in. For extra credit, the lawyer asked the doctor if she had taken into account how someone on meth would feel with such a wound.
The final witness was Keegan Nelson, Kari and Freddy’s youngest son, whose voice cracked as he recounted learning about his father’s murder. He gave consistent, soft-spoken testimony about his parents, their loving relationship, and what life has been like since that horrible day.
Asked if he could say one more thing to his father, he answered, “I love him and miss him.”
DAY 5 (9/11/24): A security professional, a former TMT Development manager Henry Hornecker, and Freddy Nelson, Sr.
First up was an expert witness on private security and firearms training, who also testified at Logan Gimbel’s criminal trial. What he said was clear, concise, and riveting. He called the culture at Delta Park, in respect to security, “unhealthy and at some level even toxic;” stated that TMT acted in a “very unusual manner,” sometimes taking “matters into their own hands, or put the thumb on the scale”; and that such usurpation of a security company’s authority over their own guards “creates a fog and confusion” among the officers:
“It was very inappropriate for TMT to be exerting or appearing to exert some level of direction or control over Cornerstone guards in reference to how they performed their duties or what they should be doing. Additionally, members of TMT management asking slash almost insisting that certain people be arrested vs excluded… ultimately if someone is excluded, then they’re off the property, then that’s the win. The win is not getting someone arrested, just because we don’t like them.”
He stated that “Gimbel was undeniably the aggressor, who escalated the situation several times before murdering” Nelson. In such an instance, “whatever justification you think you have for using force does not exist anymore because you caused the problem.”
Upon cross, he was asked if he thought if Cornerstone’s notorious “Smile, be polite, be professional, BUT HAVE A PLAN TO KILL EVERYONE YOU MEET” policy was substantially different than that Oregon’s DPSST armed officer manual says, about being in color-coded levels of preparedness. He answered, “Yes, substantially [different].” Later, he added that there is “nothing in the DPSST manual that implies or explicitly states ‘have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’ That’s a pretty extreme statement,” and “very much” reckless.
Next was former TMT associate property manager Henry Hornecker, who had already been “asked to leave” before Nelson’s murder. He learned of the incident when his mother sent him a link to an article, which he “didn’t really read.”
Hornecker was grilled over TMT’s “zero tolerance policy” for infractions at Delta Park. He tried to toe the company line by insisting there was no such policy, but his efforts to explain references to “zero policy” and “zero tolerance” only served to highlight the fact that it was indeed a TMT policy.²
He claimed that it was “really just words to relay the idea that it’s something we don’t want exceptions to be made of,” and added that “zero policy” meant that “zero people should be allowed to do it.” Yeah, so precisely a “zero tolerance policy!”
Lastly, Freddy Nelson, Sr. gave emotional testimony about his son, who he described as a kind, handy, hard-working, and fun-loving person. He stated that he looks at a picture of his son on his fridge every day, breaking up as he added, “He was a good son.”
DAY 6 (9/12/24): Tuning out the noise and focusing on the key facts
Today came down to a few key admissions that fit together to show that TMT Development and Cornerstone really did conspire to target a homeless man, who knew and asserted his rights; wreck his mutually beneficial arrangement with Lowe’s; and effectively harass him to death.
Former Lowe’s manager Laurie Sugahbeare testified that Nelson provided the company with a vital service during Covid, and helped them avoid the wrath of the fire marshal. But she was constantly having to deal with Cornerstone hassling Nelson for taking their broken pallets: “I had to go out 5 to 6 times to clarify that Mr. Nelson was authorized to take” them, and “[Cornerstone officers] just weren’t listening.” TMT employees were also not responsive to her contacts.
Importantly, she testified that Cornerstone and TMT did not treat Lowe’s other pallet vendor in the manner they treated Nelson. The attorney suggested that it was a “vendetta,”and she agreed that he was hassled by Cornerstone “every single time” he showed up at Lowe’s back door.
Sugahbeare thought of him as a “good guy,” who was “friendly” to her “and all the managers.” It’s unfortunate that none of the attorneys asked her how she felt when she heard of Nelson’s murder, how she feels now, since more information has surfaced, or if she wonders if she could have done more.
Then we heard from property manager Marc Wilkins, the TMT employee who did the dirtiest work in wrecking Nelson’s relationship with Lowe’s, and who now apparently suffers from comprehension and memory issues.
In the six weeks before Nelson’s murder, Wilkins repeatedly emailed a Lowe’s corporate employee, mentioned a “nearby transient” picking up their pallets, and asked if he was authorized to do so.
Importantly, nine emails were exchanged before Wilkins finally identified the “transient” by name, making several things crystal clear, most notably: TMT’s distaste for homeless people; and that Wilkins didn’t really want Lowe’s to confirm if Nelson was an authorized vendor… his entire purpose was to poison that well.
We know this specifically, because, even after Lowe’s answered definitively and firmly how they were handling their overflow pallets, Wilkins replied once more:
It’s doubtful that a low-level manager would have been so persistent without explicit or implicit direction to do so, from higher up. We will likely hear from those mustache twisters soon.
Wilkins also gave testimony on other key issues, like Cornerstone’s authority to patrol Lowe’s parking lot, and TMT’s “zero tolerance policy,” but overall his testimony lacked credibility.
He repeatedly required that questions be repeated to him, or dumbed down for him, and claimed not to remember his own motivations for actions he took just three years ago. He could not even remember if he met Logan Gimbel — the guard who murdered that transient guy he had sent so many emails about.²
Four other people testified today, including three members of Nelson’s family. Two of those people were not particularly credible. But nothing that they said — especially nothing about their family’s dynamics in 2019 — has any bearing on whether TMT Development, Cornerstone Security Group, and Lowe’s are liable for his murder. It is tuned out accordingly.
² Wilkins’ excessive pauses and struggles to answer even the most basic questions gave the impression that he was not so much speaking the truth and what he knew, but trying to give the answers that would not get his boss in trouble. He is still employed by TMT.
DAY 7 (9/13/24): Cornerstone co-owner Matthew Cady, and others
First up was former Cornerstone director John Ransom (“Rance”) Harris, who careened between testy, combative, and outright angry. He clearly did not want to be on the stand defending the conduct of his former employer, coworkers, or himself; and reluctantly answered questions, often by claiming not to remember fairly recent events, or feigning ignorance of the meaning of words — words that he wrote or approved.³
Despite not being a named defendant, it’s apparent that he felt “seen” by the allegations in the suit. Notwithstanding his credibility issues, Harris begrudgingly gave some important testimony.
Harris agreed that TMT had a “zero tolerance policy,” that he thought that the policy violated DPSST standards (putting his license in danger), and that TMT employees gave conflicting direction regarding which areas of the shopping center that Cornerstone was to patrol — a material issue in this case.
He also admitted that he had never seen any video or other proof that Freddy Nelson had “harassed, threatened, and undermined” Cornerstone officers — apparently because none exists. It gives credence to the idea that Cornerstone (and TMT) classified mouthy transients — who knew and asserted their legal rights —as violent and/or aggressive.
To cap it off, Harris claimed not to have followed the murder case against his coworker, Logan Gimbel, nor viewed bodycam footage of the shooting, despite having being a supervisor at Cornerstone. He stated that he had “moved on” with his life, and that he was “not involved in” the incident.
Asked, “You do understand that Mr. Gimbel murdered Mr. Nelson?” he carefully replied, “I read a headline of that.”
Harris was followed by the psychologist who administered a forensic evaluation of Kari Nelson. He testified about her condition, having witnessed the “graphic shooting, only feet away,” of the man she met at age fifteen. He stated, “I would call that a very intense trauma,” and proceeded to enumerate her symptoms and diagnoses.
The doctor was asked if “paranoia and aggression” are a symptom of meth use, which is a strange question to ask considering that the bodycam footage of Nelson’s murder showed that he tried to deescalate the situation. We also know now that Freddy Nelson was not paranoid: TMT and Cornerstone were targeting him.
Given Rance Harris’ agitated performance, I was braced for similar from Cornerstone’s co-owner and founder, Matthew Cady. Instead, he spoke coherently, calmly, and confidently about his company, and their contract with TMT. He appeared frank and knowledgeable, not coached.
He testified about the “complete chaos” of the Delta Park shopping center before Cornerstone was hired, and TMT’s propensity to micromanage their security officers.
Shown an email from TMT employee Marc Wilkins, and questioned about whether or not they were supposed to patrol Lowe’s parking lot — a pivotal issue in this case — Cady stated, “I felt Mr. Wilkins didn’t know what he was talking about, and [I] learned nothing from [his] email.”
³ As an example of his strained testimony, Harris — who is currently an instructor on armed and unarmed security — claimed to need assistance understanding what the words “brandishing” and “long guns” meant, despite having written and/or approved a Cornerstone policy memo on those subjects.
DAY 8 (9/16/24): TMT’s expert witness, former Cornerstone guard, and Cady continued
There’s no good way to put it, other than this trial is a fucking mess — needlessly overcomplicated and deliberately muddled. If I were a juror, I would be very confused about much of the testimony allowed, and wondering why other, seemingly more relevant testimony was cut off.
For example, I would wonder why I heard so much about Freddy Nelson’s cocaine use a decade ago, or his sons’ unrelated problems with law enforcement, and so much less about the culture at Cornerstone:
That witness, Killian Kuhn, did not even blink or flinch during that exchange. He seemed proud to the proudth degree. Like the other ex-Cornerstone employees who have testified thus far, he gave off strong anti-protest, anti-homeless, and anti-Portland vibes.
They reinforce the stereotype of armed security as small and paranoid men — who can’t be cops for whatever reason — dependent on guns and law enforcement cosplay to give them instant, otherwise unearned authority and stature… who are constantly looking for the tiniest infraction to turn into an explosive situation.
They collectively testified about Nelson’s “constant” “harassment” and “intimidation” of them, “driving past” them and “honking his horn” or “flipping them off” or otherwise trying to “bait” them.
But all we’ve seen in the videos thus far is a man who knew the law, and what his rights were, and continuously asserted both. Apparently, to those kinds of “badge-heavy” people, that qualifies as “harassment.”
Earlier, one of TMT’s expert witnesses stated that at the time leading up to Nelson’s murder, “There was a pretty significant crime element going on… There’s testimony about, [TMT President and CEO] Ms. Sturgeon, at some point in her career… Vanessa Sturgeon found dead bodies behind one of the buildings at [Delta Park] center.”
I have listened to the entire trial so far, and I cannot recall hearing anything about this, although the witness may have been referring to Sturgeon’s deposition.
Regardless, nobody objected to or asked for proof of that shocking claim. Google does not believe it’s true that Sturgeon found at least two bodies — or even just one! If she had, she is the type of person who would have loudly told the world about it already.
Making the vague claim that Sturgeon “found dead bodies” at her shithole shopping center, and then converting that into justification for hiring armed guards… well, it’s the kind of thing that poisons a jury. There is no real explanation, no evidence to refer to, and no rebuttal.
It’s just out there, standing in for the horrible truth.
DAY 9 (9/17/24): Lowe’s employee, expert toxicologist, and Kari Nelson
The Lowe’s property manager — who TMT employee Marc Wilkins strove to poison against Nelson, and his transience — testified about the company’s policy on vendors; and that Nelson was not a “vendor,” despite having a verbal agreement with managers at the Portland store. She stated that, stores are “not authorized” to make side deals with “local vendors” they want to “hire.”
However, the word “vendor” has been bothering me for a while, and it has crystalized by her use of the word “hire.” “Vendor” and “hire” are words that strongly imply — and may even legally require — the exchange of money.
Yet nine days in, and thousands of pages read, there is no testimony or proof that Freddy Nelson received money from Lowe’s for relieving them of their broke-ass pallets, and carting them far away from TMT Development’s hellhole shopping center, before he was shot by a Cornerstone Security Group officer.
Nor was Freddy Nelson a simple “dumpster diver,” a term that suggests chance and opportunism. In fact, local employees had his number and would contact him to arrange pickups.
Finally, Freddy Nelson was not a thief, either. If he had been, certainly Cornerstone would have called the police during an earlier, January 2021 incident, or asked him to unload the pallets from his truck. Instead, officers directed him to take the pallets and leave.
Let’s face it: he was none of the things that were explicitly allowed or prohibited at Delta Park; and rather than simply let him be, Freddy Nelson was targeted and then literally harassed to death, because his presence had confounded and enraged all three of the corporations now sitting as defendants.
An expert witness then testified that Nelson was not under the influence of or adversely affected by meth, despite having some in his system. We can see with our own eyes that it was Cornerstone Guard Logan Gimbel who “came in hot,” and Nelson was trying to deescalate and retreat.
Finally, Kari Nelson, Freddy’s wife of 31 years, testified. They met when she was 14 and she loved him so much that she went to a judge at age 15 and had herself emancipated so they could marry. She is a soft-spoken, churchgoing woman, and their marriage had fairly common ups and downs — and also some that were less common.
Lowlights from her cross-examination were plentiful. TMT asked Kari if their pallet company was properly “registered,” and dove into her medical records, fixating on her depression during a complicated time before her husband’s murder.
Cornerstone took the baton and asked Kari about a DUI Freddy had, which caused them to stop being foster parents. She was also grilled about her old job at Home Goods: the attorney asked why she left the company, and seemed to be hinting that Kari had decorated their converted bus with stolen merchandise.
In fact, Kari testified that she quit because she was embarrassed by Freddy’s behavior around then, and “everyone knew” and was talking about it. That should be relatable to many.
