A Grant County judge ruled Friday that Gary Dylan Cavan, 43, is guilty except for insanity in the 2025 killing of Janelle Klaar, a 41-year-old woman from Lincoln City whose badly beaten body was found at the John Day Motel. The judge committed Cavan to the Oregon State Hospital under the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board for life, with no path to conditional release.
Grant County Circuit Court Judge Robert S. Raschio issued the ruling following a stipulated-facts trial, according to Elkhorn Media Group, which reported that Cavan was found guilty except for insanity in the murder of Klaar. The outlet reported the judge committed Cavan to the Oregon State Hospital under Psychiatric Security Review Board jurisdiction for life following the Nov. 6, 2026 trial.
Workers at the John Day Motel discovered Klaar's badly beaten body on Feb. 28, 2025, according to the Blue Mountain Eagle. That discovery triggered a search for Cavan that ended with his arrest on March 5, 2025, at the old Sag's Motel outside Prairie City, the paper reported. He has remained in custody at the Grant County Jail since that arrest.
What the Evaluations Found
What the Evaluations Found The evaluations were conducted by George P. Corvin and Alexander C. Duncan, whose additional evaluation took place on Nov. 2, 2026. The court determined Cavan had a persecutory-type delusional disorder at the time of the incident, per the same account, leaving him without substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.
The judge found that Cavan would otherwise have faced conviction on the charges against him but ruled his disorder presents a substantial danger to others, ruling out conditional release, the report notes. Those charges, per the Blue Mountain Eagle, included one count of second-degree murder, three counts of first-degree burglary, and one count each of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft and second-degree criminal mischief. A grand jury indictment reported by the La Grande Observer in March 2025 separately listed three counts of first-degree burglary, one count of second-degree burglary and one Class C misdemeanor of third-degree theft.
Sheriff's Office to Handle Transfer
The Grant County Sheriff's Office will transport Cavan to the Oregon State Hospital once notified by the hospital, according to the Blue Mountain Eagle. Cavan was previously escorted by a Grant County sheriff's deputy to a pretrial release hearing on July 25, 2025, in Grant County, the outlet reported.
Two people connected to Cavan have already faced consequences tied to the case. Mickey Turner, identified by the Blue Mountain Eagle as Cavan's mother, and Richard Earl States each pleaded guilty to single counts of hindering prosecution for helping Cavan evade authorities.
A System Under Federal Scrutiny
Cavan's commitment comes amid broader strain on Oregon's psychiatric hospital system. OPB reported that Oregon was found in contempt of a long-standing federal court order in 2025 and began accruing fines of $500 per day for every person held too long in jail awaiting transfer to the state hospital. The state returned to compliance on June 8, 2026, OPB reported, and a federal order that same month limited extensions of hospital stays for people committed on violent felony charges to a single 180-day extension beyond one year.
Cavan's case echoes another recent Oregon ruling. In Lane County, a judge found Justin Ray Carr guilty except for insanity on two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree arson in a case involving two deaths in a Springfield fire, according to Lookout Eugene-Springfield. Carr was also committed to the Oregon State Hospital under Psychiatric Security Review Board jurisdiction for life, though unlike Cavan, the outlet reported he may eventually receive conditional release to a secure residential treatment facility or independent living.
Under Oregon law, a court that reaches a guilty-except-for-insanity finding must enter a dispositional order based on evidence presented at trial or at a separate hearing if either party requests one, according to an archived excerpt of Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 161 published by the Oregon Legislature. For now, Cavan remains in the Grant County Jail awaiting the hospital's notification to begin his transfer.
