Sean C. Morgan
As part of a plea agreement on Feb. 20, Travis Powers was sentenced to life in prison in Linn County Circuit Court for the murder of Wayne Keith Klavano of Lebanon.
Powers, 23, pleaded guilty to murder, second-degree robbery and first-degree theft. A charge of aggravated murder was dismissed.
Powers was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. He may apply for parole after 25 years. He was sentenced to a concurrent sentence of 70 months for the robbery charge and six months for the theft charge.
He was ordered to pay $5,000 to the Department of Justice Crime Victims Compensation program and $5,574 to Klavano’s parents, Keith and Sharon Klavano.
Daniel Louis Armbrecht pleaded guilty on Feb. 5 to second-degree robbery and first-degree theft. A charge of murder was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. He is scheduled for sentencing on April 2.
Powers and Armbrecht were arrested near Brigham City, Utah, the night before Klavano’s body was discovered on narcotics charges and possession of firearms by a restricted person, charges that were unrelated to this case. They were extradited to Oregon for the murder. A state trooper pulled them over for traveling with one operational headlight.
Klavano’s parents reported to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office on July 30 that they had found the body of their son, dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the back of the head, where he was camped along Upper Soda Road, about 10 miles off Highway 20.
They had gone looking for him after he missed an appointment. Klavano lived in the mountains east of Sweet Home during the summer months, working as a fur trapper.