Oregon Community Reeling: Son Arrested For Strangulation And Assault Just Days After He Killed Beloved Educator Mom According To Cops

A beloved Oregon educator and grandmother was killed at the hands of her own son, according to authorities.

On April 14, the Polk County Grand Jury indicted 30-year-old Robin Hethorn, five months after his 62-year-old mother, Theresa Hethorn, was found dead inside her Monmouth home, KOIN reported.

According to court documents, Robin was arrested and charged with assault and strangulation for a 2021 incident less than 10 days after his mother’s death on Nov. 9, 2022.

While authorities have not released the cause of death for Theresa, Lt. Matt Olafson of the Monmouth Police Department told KOIN, “We’ve investigated it and we have probable cause to believe that he did murder his mom.”

Olafson said Robin has been a person of interest for a long time and with him being in custody, they’ve “been able to work around that to develop the probable cause needed to hold him accountable for this,” KOIN reported.

On March 30, Theresa’s daughter Kali Roque and her husband Juan Roque-Delaguarda were found dead in their Salem home, according to KOIN.

The Marion County District Attorney’s Office has not provided any updates on that case, but Monmouth Police said Robin has been in custody since last November, so they don’t believe the two cases are connected, KOIN reported.

Olafson said, “At this point, nothing that we’ve seen has tied those two together.”

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Daniel Hethorn, Theresa’s other son, told KOIN that their “entire family has been under an unbelievable amount of stress over these past five months.” With Robin being indicted now, Daniel said the “giant weight around our necks has finally become the slightest bit lighter with Robin finally being charged.”

Robin was charged with seven counts in connection to the killing of his mother, including two counts of second-degree murder, robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and identity theft, officials said.