A Multnomah County judge sentenced 42-year-old Eric Alexander to 20 years and 10 months in prison for setting fire to a Portland house while a family of four slept inside — a house that belonged to his ex-girlfriend's employer. Two adults and two children escaped the November 2024 blaze, but the mother of the children told the court the trauma has never really left her home.
According to KPTV, Alexander pleaded guilty in March 2026 to all 19 counts tied to the case, which included attempted murder, arson, stalking, and endangerment. The fire, set in November 2024, targeted a house belonging to the boss of Alexander's ex-girlfriend, who had moved to Oregon before Alexander followed her there. Hours after the fire, Alexander sent an email taking credit for setting it, the outlet reports.
The case had been building for weeks before the fire. Law enforcement learned in October 2024 that Alexander was stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend, and according to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, that warning reached police after a friend reported Alexander was posting online threats of extreme violence toward his ex-girlfriend, people close to her, and women in general. Alexander also posted threats of extreme violence toward his ex-girlfriend on various social media platforms and warned that the violence would not stop, per KPTV's report.
Investigators Traced Digital Threats Before the Fire
The district attorney's office says the investigation that gathered digital evidence and secured charges against Alexander was led by Portland Police Bureau Special Victims Unit Officer Huntley Miller and Lieutenant Jason Andersen. Alexander was originally indicted in November 2024 on a 19-count indictment that included five counts of second-degree attempted murder and four counts of first-degree arson, and he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment before Judge Steffan Alexander that same month, the district attorney's office notes. He later reversed course, entering guilty pleas on all 19 counts in March 2026.
The prosecution stretched across a change in county leadership — the case was opened under then-District Attorney Mike Schmidt and continued after Nathan Vasquez was sworn in as district attorney in January 2025, per the district attorney's office's account. It ultimately concluded with this week's sentencing hearing, where the mother of the two children who escaped the fire gave a victim impact statement.
A Family Still Living With the Fear
The mother told KPTV the trauma is still very present in her household. Her oldest child struggles with anxiety, she said, while her youngest child is terrified by fire alarms at school and struggles to trust that adults will keep her safe. The mother said she herself struggles with anxiety and fears for her family's safety, and the safety of others, if Alexander is ever released from custody. She told the court she supports the longest sentence possible under Oregon law.
Why the Sentence Runs Two Decades
Alexander's sentence reflects Oregon's Ballot Measure 11, the voter-approved 1994 law that sets mandatory minimums for violent felonies, according to Southern Oregon Defense. Under the measure, defendants convicted of first-degree arson must serve a mandatory minimum of 90 months, or 7.5 years, without eligibility for sentence reductions or good-time credits. First-degree arson itself is a Class A felony under Oregon Revised Statute 164.325, carrying a maximum of up to 20 years when a fire intentionally damages protected property or endangers another person, as outlined by the Oregon State Legislature.
Once Alexander completes his prison term, state rules require at least 36 months of active post-prison supervision, per Oregon Secretary of State regulations governing first-degree arson convictions dated on or after June 30, 1995. That mandated oversight period follows him regardless of how the rest of his sentence is served.
A Pattern Multnomah County Courts Have Confronted Before
Alexander's case is not the only recent instance of a Multnomah County judge imposing a roughly 20-year term for life-threatening arson. In July 2026, a judge sentenced 40-year-old Shaun Szwarz to 20 years in prison for setting a four-alarm fire at a Portland apartment complex that injured residents and forced some to jump from upper-floor windows. Both cases involved intentional fire-setting in occupied residential structures, underscoring how county courts have approached arson convictions where lives were placed at risk.
The broader pattern of stalking that preceded Alexander's arson also reflects a documented local crisis. Multnomah County's 2025 Point in Time report found that 56% of surveyed unhoused individuals reported losing housing due to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, according to county data. The county runs specialized units, including a Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team, to respond to high-risk intimate partner violence cases — the same category of threat that investigators say defined Alexander's monthslong pursuit of his ex-girlfriend before he set the fire.
