Christopher Lovrien: Man sentenced to life for killing victim with crossbow and hiding remains in shed

PORTLAND, OREGON: An Oregon man's erratic and defiant attempts to defend himself appeared to come to an end on Friday, April 26, when he was sentenced to life for the second of two murders.

On Friday, Christopher Lovrien, 57, was sentenced to life in prison for the 2020 murder of Kenneth Griffin. 

On the other hand, in January, Lovrien entered a guilty plea to manslaughter for the 1999 killing of 42-year-old Mark Dribin. At that time, he had told the Multnomah County court to "go to hell".

Christopher Lovrien found guilty of second-degree murder

Lovrien said if he could have afforded a private attorney, he would have won. Lovrien represented himself primarily in 53-year-old Kenneth Griffin's death case, declining to use a public defender.

However, the case did not turn out as planned. Lovrien claimed during the murder trial he was being set up.

“I know for a fact that it was stolen," while accusing prosecutors of taking an autopsy photo from evidence.

"This is just sneaky tactics. Your honor will be complicit in allowing this to happen," he said, as per The Oregonian.

In the end, he depended on backup legal representation as the case came to an end. He was found guilty by the jury of first-degree abuse of a corpse and second-degree murder.

Lovrien showed up in court on Friday to find out his fate for killing Griffin.

The Oregonian reported that he remained silent when Circuit Judge Christopher Ramras sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 46 years. This was in contrast to his outbursts during the trial.

Lovrien had earlier received a 20-year prison sentence for Dribin's death.

Dribin was murdered by Lovrien over two decades ago. The last time he was seen alive was on July 1, 1999. The prosecution acknowledged that they were unable to pinpoint exactly what had happened that fatal evening.

Dribin death case remained unsolved for 20 years

According to reports, Lovrien claimed that early on July 4, 1999, he—a meth dealer—met Dribin at an adult bookstore. He claimed that although Dribin invited him home, he began to come onto him while he slept.

The case remained unsolved for approximately 20 years, despite the fact that investigators found Dribin's Ford Explorer abandoned in a parking lot of a rehab clinic close to Lovrien's residence.

They also found a large kitchen knife and evience of blood cleaned up. Investigators claimed that by using genetic genealogy to connect DNA evidence to the defendant's family, they recently solved the case.

When they approached Lovrien in a bar, he denied ever having met Dribin. However, they were able to confirm the match using DNA taken from a glass.

Though he did not specify the exact location, the defendant allegedly stated that he buried the body at Larch Mountain, which is close to Portland.

In addition, Lovrien was also accused of killing Griffin, whose mother had filed a missing person's report on February 2, 2020.

She passed away before the case was finished. “That was hard to see her so heartbroken,” Griffin’s brother, Charles Patton, said on Friday, according to The Oregonian.

Christopher Lovrien claimed he has Satan in him

According to reports, Lovrien told investigators that he and Griffin were drinking and when Griffin refused to leave, he struck Griffin's face with an ax and shot the victim five times with a crossbow. He hid him in a shed after mutilating the remains.

When investigators checked out the shed, they found Griffin’s dismembered remains inside. Loverien had abandoned plans to dispose of the body parts in a river.

“The evil that was put upon my brother that day, or that night, this was an evil act,” Patton said on Friday, according to Portland Fox affiliate KPTV.

“I’m not saying you’re evil, but boy it takes some really — you got to be twisted to do the things you did to my brother.”

Lovrien was in jail for Dribin's killing when Griffin's remains were found in the shed. He told his brother not to look in the shed, a prosecutors' memo reportedly stated.

“There’s more to this than has been revealed and it’s bad,” he said. “I’ve got Satan in me.”