Whitewater Icon Mark Angel charged with attempted murder
Judy Angel and their dog Chewy get ready to ride with Mark Angel in May of 2020. Photo by Brian Janecek.
By Tom Peterson
Mark Angel, a renowned whitewater salvage man known for his work on the Deschutes River, was arraigned in Deschutes County Circuit Court on Monday, Sept. 20 for attempted murder.
Angel who had spent a portion of his career living in Maupin, was residing in Redmond when he allegedly beat his wife, Judy Angel, with a rock, attempted to strangle her with the sash of a robe, placed a bag over her head, threatened her with a firearm and attempted to throw her in a pond before she escaped, according to news reports in The Bend Bulletin.
The alleged crime occurred on Saturday, Sept. 18, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Log.
CCCNews spent a day with both Mark and Judy more than a year ago in the salvage of a drift boat near White Horse Rapids on the Deschutes River.
Mark Angel working to salvage a drift boat near White Horse rapids on the Deschutes in May 2020.
Mark was recovering from a second stroke at the time and was having trouble with his vision. He also struggled with grasping the right words. But the retired lineman was still able to fish a rope around a submerged vessel using a linemans’ hot stick.
And Judy was enamored with the man who had spent a career helping Oregon families find lost loved ones under the darkness of whitewater and screaming currents.
She and their dog Chewy appeared a good team with Mark at that time.
During the outing, Angel had difficulty navigating the river and his boat hit a rock and later had to be repaired.
It was a tough end for Angel, who swore off white-water navigation in a jet boat from that day forward.
Brian Janecek was on the ride along with Judy Angel.
Janecek said the following that day,
“I put my arm around her (judy),” he said. “I told her it was an absolute pleasure spending the day with you. She teared up and looked at me and said, ‘I wish you could have seen him two years ago. He was so great, so amazing to watch. I’m sorry you did not get to see that.’”
Angel is charged with second-degree attempted murder, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, second-degree assault, second-degree strangulation and menacing.
Attempted murder and second-degree assault are both Measure 11 crimes bringing mandatory sentences of 5 years 10 months and 7 years 6 months of prison time respectively. Consecutive sentences could put him away for the better part of two decades.
Angel, 77, could foreseeably spend the rest of his life in incarceration.
He was arraigned on Monday in front of Circuit Court Judge Alycia Sykora. Angel spoke for himself and appeared to accept what prosecutors accused him of, reported the Bend Bulletin.
The story, written by Zack Demars, goes on to state the following:
Mark Angel in recent booking photo from Deschutes County Jail
Circuit Court Judge Alycia Sykora repeatedly suggested he accept a public defender to assist in his defense.
“I don’t want you to talk about the details of your case Mr. Angel, but there are some very serious allegations here.” Sykora said, noting that Angel could face 20 years in prison for the attempted murder charge alone.
He vehemently turned down offers of an attorney to assist in his defense.
“Guilty is guilty. I don’t need anybody to help me say it,” Angel told the court, appearing by video from the Deschutes County jail.
Angel remained Monday in jail on $500,000 bail, and he is scheduled to return to court Sept. 27. Sykora noted Angel would again be offered an attorney at that time.
“I’m not going to leave this room I’m in right now,” Angel said from the jail. “They’d better make sure I stay here.”
Click here to read the original CCCNews story on Mark Angel.
