BREAKING: John Day murder suspect sentenced to life in Oregon State Hospital

CANYON CITY — The John Day man facing charges of murdering a 41-year-old Lincoln City woman in February 2025 will spend the rest of his life at the Oregon State Hospital. Gary Cavan, 43, was the subject of a stipulated facts trial Friday, Nov. 6, in Grant County Circuit Court. Judge Robert Raschio presided over the trial and found Cavan guilty except for insanity. The state accused Cavan of the brutal killing of his former girlfriend, Janelle Klaar, after workers at the John Day Motel on Feb. 28, 2025, discovered her badly beaten body. That sparked a search for Cavan that ended with his arrest March 5, 2025, at the old Sag’s Motel along Highway 26 outside Prairie City. The state charged Cavan with second-degree murder, three counts of first-degree burglary and one count each of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft and second-degree criminal mischief in relation to Klaar’s death. Cavan has been in the custody of the Grant County Jail since his arrest.

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