Ward Weaver killings, family explored in book on the origins of evil

Published 5:45 am Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Nature versus nurture is the haunting question lurking in the background of many true crime books, especially those about serial killers. Were they born evil, raised to be bad, or some combination of the two? Would their crimes have been prevented — and their victims spared — if their lives had been different?

A former Portland Tribune reporter explores these questions in a new book inspired by her work on the Oregon City missing girls case, the murders of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis by Ward Weaver III in 2002. Over 438 pages, author Janine O’Neill not only recounts the search for the girls and the eventual conviction of their killer, but also the lives of two other members of the Weaver family — Weaver’s father Ward Jr., who is on death row in California for two 1981 murders, and his son Francis, who was convicted of murder in 2016, although the charge was later reduced to manslaughter.

“Close to Home: Sexual Abusers and Serial Killers, Memoir and Murder” has more than enough gruesome details to satisfy true crime fans. But it’s much more than that. As the title suggests, O’Neill’’s book is an examination of the causes and potential interventions for such crimes, including interviews with leading academics on the effects of trauma on children and the possible role played by genetics.

“When the Oregon City missing girls case was over, there were still so many unanswered questions about what happened and why. I wanted to try to answer those questions,” said O’Neill, who reported the story as Janine Robben.

O’Neill interviewed dozens of people and reviewed hundreds of documents after her original Portland Tribune reporting. Along the way, she discovered that the Weavers may be the most prolific family of serial killers in the country. She believes the elder Weaver actually committed around two dozen other murders that he was never charged with. They are documented to have occurred along the long-haul truck route he drove on the West Coast before his 1982 arrest.

“He offered to confess to the murders through his defense attorney to escape the death penalty. But the district attorney turned him down because he did not want to reward him for killing more people,” O’Neill said.

Ironically, although Weaver Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death after the district attorney rejected his offer, he will never be executed. California is dismantling its death rows.

Oregon City missing girls case inspired book

The 2002 disappearances traumatized the community. When Ashley Pond, 12, vanished from her apartment building along Beavercreek Road in Oregon City on Jan. 9, it was big local news. The disappearance of Miranda Gaddis, 13, two months later, generated non-stop national media coverage. Both girls were the same age and were on the same school dance team, so a connection immediately seemed obvious.

Despite the involvement of the FBI in the investigation, no suspect was identified until June 2, when the Portland Tribune broke the news that Weaver III admitted to this reporter that he was the prime suspect. Although he denied knowing anything about the disappearance of the two girls, the single father lived in a small house just above Pond’s apartment complex, both girls knew his daughter, and they had both been to his house for sleepovers. Ashley had actually lived there for several months and accused Weaver III of molesting her before she disappeared, although he denied it and was never charged.

O’Neill soon began reporting on the story. A former Clackamas County prosecutor who handled sex abuse cases, she began interviewing family members to find connections between the girls, their families, Weaver III, his family, and any other possible suspect.

“The FBI was describing the disappearances as cases of stranger abductions, but that hardly ever happens. Most perpetrators know their victims,” O’Neill said.

Despite extensive media coverage of the case, Weaver was not arrested until Aug. 13, when he inexplicably attacked Francis’ girlfriend in his house as he was preparing to leave town. Investigators got a search warrant and found the bodies of two girls on his property several days later. Ashley was buried under a concrete pad on the back porch. Weaver had told reporters he poured the slab for a hot tub.

Shockingly, Weaver Jr. had buried one his murder victims — a young woman — in the backyard of his California home two decades earlier.

Weaver III struck a plea deal, admitted to killing the two girls, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in September 2004. During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that Francis was not his biological son, although neither knew it. Despite not being directly related to Weaver III, Francis was convicted of murdering a drug dealer in a botched robbery in February 2014.

The charge was reduced to manslaughter in September 2021 after the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that a plea bargain agreement with another defendant had prevented Francis from fully defending himself. He had not pulled the trigger, although he helped plan the robbery

Nature, nurture or some mix?

Altogether, O’Neill eventually interviewed seven members of the extended Weaver family, including those who have never been charged with a crime. In her book, she quotes experts and cites studies about possible reasons why people from the same family raised under the same circumstances turn out different. Many killers suffer abuse as children, and that was the case with both Ward Weavers, although not so much with Francis. On the other hand, most siblings in such families do not become criminals and many lead exemplary lives.

Asked whether she thinks nature or nurture explains the Weaver family, O’Neill said, “It’s complicated. There are no easy answers.”

Learn more

More about Janine O’Neill and “Close to Home: Sexual Abusers and Serial Killers, Memoir and Murder” can be found at janineoneill.com.

Janine O’Neill is scheduled to read from her book at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, at the Rose City Book Pub, 1329 N.E. Fremont St., Portland.

More Information

• More about author Janine O’Neill and “Close to Home: Sexual Abusers and Serial Killers, Memoir and Murder” can be found at janineoneill.com.

• O’Neill is scheduled to read from her book at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, at the Rose City Book Pub, 1329 N.E. Fremont St., Portland.