Slain Oregon Nurse, Melissa Jubane, Was Married Less Than Two Weeks Before She Went Missing
UPDATE: Judge Turns Down Appeal to Unseal Documents Containing Details of Oregon Nurse Melissa Jubane Murder
A 32-year-old murdered nurse, Melissa Jubane, who was married in Hawaii less than two weeks before she was reported missing, is believed to have locked the door to her home before 6:30 a.m. on September 4 but failed to show up for work at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.
Her car was later found parked in the garage of the Beaverton apartment complex where she lived.
Few details have been released about the circumstances in which police and prosecutors allege Bryce Schubert (27) killed Jubane.
Prosecutors successfully persuaded a judge to seal documents out of concern that releasing information to the public would compromise their investigation. Their concerns centered around an application for a search warrant and a probable cause affidavit.
Prosecutors Seek Sentencing Enhancements to Secure Life Imprisonment Without Possibility of Release
In a Washington County Circuit Court filing this week, the District Attorney’s Office gave notice that it plans to ask a jury to agree that certain sentencing enhancement factors apply to the Schubert case.
The sentencing enhancement factors include deliberate cruelty to the victim, that the accused used a weapon to carry out his alleged crimes, that future efforts to rehabilitate him will not succeed, and that there is a need to ensure public security.
After Melissa Jubane went missing, the police announced a few days later that her body had been found and that Schubert had been arrested.
In court papers, prosecutors filed that Schubert was accused of murdering and kidnapping the newly married nurse and of abusing her corpse. The papers also stated that the man had been deliberately cruel to the woman while carrying out the alleged crimes and that he was beyond rehabilitation.
Schubert has pleaded not guilty and will appear in court again on November 18.
The prosecutors are laying legal groundwork so that if Schubert is found guilty, he will be sentenced to life imprisonment. In terms of Oregon law, enhancing factors increase the likelihood that the state’s parole and post-prison supervision board will be less inclined to free him from prison after serving his 30-year term.