Who is Oen Nicholson? Triple murder suspect convinced to surrender by woman he abducted
NORTH BEND, OREGON: Oen Nicholson, who is suspected of killing three people was convinced to turn himself in, by the very woman he kidnapped. Laura Johnson was forced to drive Nicholson from Oregon to Milwaukee, where she talked him into surrendering to local authorities. Thankfully she is now on her way back home, while Nicholson will be extradited to Oregon where he faces murder charges.
The story of Johnson is one of the few times a kidnapping hasn't gone wrong. Back in 2020, a group of teenagers in California ended up in trouble after one of them was kidnapped in an attempt to expose a pedophile. In other cases we previously reported on, things have thankfully gone much better. In May 2021, Alyssa Bonal, an 11-year-old Florida girl was nearly kidnapped but managed to fight off the knife-wielding sex offender. Back in January 2020, Alabama police were able to rescue a woman held at knifepoint after a dramatic standoff with a California man.
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It's unclear how Johnson got Nicholson to surrender, but she had the whole 2,000-mile journey to do so. On their arrival in Milwaukee, he surrendered without incident to local police. This is everything we know about Nicholson, and the dramatic murders leading to his kidnapping of Johnson.
Who is Oen Nicholson?
Little is known about the 30-year-old, as we could not find any social media profiles in his name. No other previous reports exist in his name, so this is likely the first time he is running into trouble with the law. It is likely he lives in North Bend, Oregon, where he murdered three people including his father. That murder spree led Nicholson to kidnap Johnson at gunpoint and force her to drive him out of state.
According to reports, on Friday, June 18, Nicholson allegedly killed his father Charles Simms Nicholson. Charles' body was found in a trailer at an RV campground of The Mill Casino. It is believed Nicholson then stole his father's truck and ran over a couple from Florida. Anthony Oyster, 74, was killed at the campground, while his wife Linda, 73, was seriously injured. She is currently in critical condition at a local hospital.
Shortly after that hit-and-run, Nicholson shot and killed 47-year-old Jennifer Davidson at a marijuana dispensary. He then proceeded to purchase ammunition from a nearby sporting goods store and crashed the truck. It was later found set on fire. Sometime after crashing the truck, Nicholson came across Johnson, who was on her lunch break in her car in Springfield, Oregon. He threatened her at gunpoint and forced her to drive him all the way to Milwaukee.
She was then reported missing by her family, with her place of work Cabella's confirming she never returned from lunch. That led the Springfield Police Department to begin investigations, and launch a hunt for Johnson. It is unclear why Nicholson murdered the three people, with investigations still ongoing. Shortly after he did, North Bend police began a weekend-long manhunt, that ended after Nicholson surrendered on Sunday, June 20.
"Me and my wife both feel amazing and what a Father's day gift that was handed back to me," Johnson's father told a local TV station. He added, "He (Nicholson) approached her in her vehicle with a gun. They said she was forced to drive 33 hours to where they're at. She was able to talk him into turning himself in." Johnson is now on her way back home, unharmed.
Nicholson will be extradited to North Bend, where he has been slapped with over 10 criminal counts, including six counts of murder in the first degree. He is also facing charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, and failing to help a person injured in a traffic accident. He is slated to appear in court later this week in Milwaukee, before being turned over to police in Oregon.