Jury Finds Oregon Man Guilty of Setting Fire to Historic Building, Risking Lives and Killing Pets

It took a jury three hours to find Garret Repp guilty on 55 of the 56 counts involving a fire that gutted the historic 1910 May Apartment block in Southwest Portland. He was found guilty of destroying the apartment block, risking the lives of 20 tenants, and causing the death of several pets.

Repp (32) faced charges that included 28 counts of first-degree arson, 21 counts of reckless endangerment, and four counts of first-degree animal abuse involving the fire on May 16, 2023.

During his trial in the Multnomah County Circuit Court yesterday (Wednesday), the jury heard that Repp had set fire to his apartment an hour before police were due to arrive to evict him from his home on the third floor of the 1410 S.W. Taylor St. Building for failure to pay rent.

Tenants Described him as ‘Frightening’ and ‘Erratic’

Witnesses who had lived in the May Apartment block described Repp as ‘frightening’ and ‘erratic’. Evidence revealed that Repp had once tunneled through his apartment wall into an adjacent unit. They also told how he had wielded medieval weaponry in the hallways of the building.

The court heard that after setting fire to his apartment with butane and a lighter, Repp walked to his mother’s apartment, leaving tenants abandoning their possessions and dangling from fire escapes as 100 firefighters fought the blaze.

The Goose Hollow Apartments Were Gutted by the Fire

The masonry mid-rise apartment block was in Goose Hollow, a Portland suburb with a mixture of historic buildings and modern condos. The May Apartments were demolished last September after being declared a total loss.

One of the witnesses was Repp’s girlfriend Isabel Blankenship, who told the court that Repp was convinced that tenants in the building were plotting against him because he was a meth user.

Defense attorney Clay Graham said neighbors annoyed by his client’s behavior could have entered Repp’s apartment. However, his hypothesis was dismissed by the jury and Deputy District Attorney Eric Palmer.

Palmer reminded that testimony by arson investigators was that the fire started in Repp’s apartment and not as the defendant would have the court believe that the building ‘spontaneously combusted into flames’ after he had left the building.

Further evidence heard by the six-man-six-women jury was that police received 25 false fire alarms between December 2022 and the day of the fire in May 2023. Fire Bureau Lt. Jason Andersen said they were told by tenants that Repp was responsible for the 911 calls.

Prosecutors are seeking stringent punishment, and Circuit Court Judge Celia Howes must determine if Repp is a dangerous offender before setting a date for a sentencing hearing.