Sean C. Morgan
Linn County Judge Daniel Murphy ordered Bobby Ray Hancock, 41, to be taken into custody and held on $600,000 bail following an allegation that he tampered with a witness and violated his release agreement.
Hancock is charged with first-degree manslaughter, driving under the influence and tampering with physical evidence in connection to the death of Victoria Sophia Richards, 40, in a motorcycle crash on Foster Dam on Sept. 24, 2011.
Hancock was arrested in February at the Pineway Lounge for consuming alcohol in violation of his release agreement. He forfeited $25,000 in bail and received a security release agreement for $32,500, 10 percent of the total bail set at the time.
Judge Tom McHill ordered the revocation of the release agreement and forfeiture of the security on April 4.
“He’s being arraigned today on a new charge of tampering with a witness,” said Deputy District Attorney Michael Wynhausen. That violated the second release agreement.
“I ask that he be taken into custody at this time,” Wynhausen told the judge. He recommended that bail be set at $50,000 on the new charge and $50,000 on the previous contempt charge.
“It’s difficult to find an appropriate amount,” Wynhausen said, telling the judge that Hancock violated his release agreement once and then did it again by committing a new crime.
Murphy set bail at $50,000 each for the contempt of court and tampering with a witness charges, plus $500,000 in the original case.
Hancock’s next appearance in court remain to be scheduled for an evidentiary hearing and a trial on the charge of tampering with a witness.
As of Monday evening, county jail records did not indicte that Hancock had been taken into custody.
The case stems from a motorcycle crash on Foster Dam Road in 2011.
A caller had reported a motorcycle and debris in the roadway, but no victims were present. Sweet Home Police officers and paramedics arriving at the scene searched and located the Hancock and Richards on the west face of Foster Dam, near the access road at the bottom. The motorcycle had been moved and was found leaning against the east guardrail, according to the police report.
During the investigation, police learned that the motorcycle was southbound on Foster Dam Road, and evidence indicated that Hancock had been driving, said Police Chief Bob Burford. The motorcycle struck the west guardrail and crashed.
A medical examiner told police that Richards was killed instantly.
Police said that between the time the crash occurred and their arrival, the motorcycle had been moved to a position where it was leaning against the east guard rail and Richards’ body had been moved off the roadway, over the guardrail and down the embankment on the face of the dam.