Victims’ family faces Elgin killer Gary Otis Mason as he receives two life sentences
By Joe Hathaway on Thursday, May 30th, 2024 in Featured Stories More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE — The family of a woman and a teenage girl murdered in cold blood in 2020 faced the man who took their lives in a Union County courtroom.
58-year-old Gary Otis Mason was sentenced to two life sentences to be served concurrently after previously pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. He has the possibility after 30 years to file a petition for a hearing with the parole board.
On the night of December 29, 2020, he shot and killed 56-year-old Candy Williams and her 14-year-old granddaughter at a home on Chumos Road in Elgin.
At the sentencing hearing on May 29, Union County District Attorney Kelsie McDaniel said the crime was an “absolute bloodbath.”
McDaniel said Mason used a Ruger 10/22 and an AR-15 rifle to shoot Williams five times and the teen 14 times.
“The bodies were unrecognizable at the crime scene,” said McDaniels.
In a statement to presiding Judge Thomas Powers, McDaniels said the biggest question that remains is why Mason did it. Mason has never said publicly why he committed the murders, but in previous recorded phone conversations he had with his sister from the Union County Jail, Mason was recorded saying that Candy had been suffering and that he had to “put her down,” later mentioning he “had to off the kid too” saying she was “better off dead.” During a conversation with a counselor, Mason reportedly said that he “hunted her down like a critter.”
His defense has claimed that Mason was intoxicated at the time of the shootings.
During the sentencing hearing, one of his attorney’s addressed Judge Powers about Mason’s troubles with alcohol, stating that alcohol was a big part of his life, starting when he was a child and that “alcohol played a big part in what happened that night.”
Mason’s attorney’s also denied that he ever sexually abused the teen girl, even though she was naked when she was discovered dead and his DNA was found on her genitals.
The family of Williams and the girl were also given a chance to address Mason in court.
Several written statements from family members were read by McDaniel in court. One statement from the family said, “This is for the family of Candy Kay, a daughter, sister, sister in law, aunt, mother, grandmother and a friend of many. It’s also about **** ****, a young teenager, a daughter, granddaughter, great granddaughter, niece, great niece, cousin, and also a friend of many, both with so much potential that got taken away much too soon and the question will always be why?
Nothing will bring them back, but having some justice for them to be able to rest in peace is not only peaceful for them, but the rest of us left behind. What you did is horrible, unimaginable to most people but it doesn’t seem to bother you at all.
As a family we not only get justice for Candy and **** ****, we are also glad that we bonded and stood strong these last 3.5 years to make sure nobody else has to go through what we had to due to your actions on December 29, 2020.
Our road of healing can continue without having to relive this nightmare over and over again.”
Donna Trump, Williams’ mother, was present in court and spoke to Mason directly. “I forgive you but I’ll never forget. I hope you suffer for it. I thought you were a friend, but now I know what a POS you are.”
Before sentencing, Judge Powers noted how Mason’s comments to police regarding the deaths were “jaw dropping” and that the comments played a role in the sentence.
“During a recorded conversation in jail, you were more emotionally engaged in what was happening to a used car than you were to the victims. That I cannot forget,” said Judge Powers.
Powers then sentenced Mason to the two life terms, he will now be transferred out of the Union County jail and to an Oregon Department of Corrections prison. He has 30 days to appeal the sentence.
After court, District Attorney McDaniels said, “I’m grateful that he will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison.”
