Charges filed in 2023 murder of Asotin County man working for the Wallowa County Road Dept
By Griffin Beach on Thursday, December 4th, 2025 in Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories
ASOTIN COUNTY — A Tillamook man faces charges including first-degree murder and arson in the July 29, 2023 death of a Wallowa County Road Department employee whose remains were found after his home in Asotin County on Grande Ronde Road had burned down.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Samuel Reeves, 28, in connection with the July 29, 2023, murder of 48-year-old Michael Odom. Reeves is currently in the Tillamook County Jail on a probation violation.
Court documents indicate that during the initial investigation, Reeves, then 26 and living in Lewiston was at Odom’s home with a witness on the evening of July 28, 2023. Both Reeves and the witness claimed the other man was still at the home with Odom when they left around 7 or 8 p.m. The witness admitted to using cocaine with Odom that night, and another witness said Odom had purchased cocaine from Reeves days earlier.
Reeves and his wife left the area shortly after the fire in a previously planned move, and investigators were unable to reach him for a follow-up interview.
Further investigation revealed Odom’s landline had called Reeves’ wife’s cell phone several times late on July 28 and into the early morning hours of July 29. Investigators interviewed the couple in January 2025, when both denied involvement in the fire or Odom’s death.
In October 2025, Reeves’ wife indicated she wanted to provide more information. In an interview conducted in early November, she admitted she had lied previously because she feared Reeves and worried about getting into trouble.
She alleged that Reeves told her he tortured and beat Odom in the early morning hours of July 29, and that during a phone call at around 3 a.m. she could hear Reeves beating Odom. Reeves also sent her a Snapchat showing Odom’s face beaten. Reeves told her he was doing it because Odom had made sexual advances towards him. She said Reeves had been sexually abused as a child and the sexual advance likely triggered him.
She further claimed Reeves told her he cut out Odom’s tongue and pulled out his teeth before pouring gasoline on him and lighting him on fire. She said she believed Odom was alive during all of this because Reeves said Odom was still making noises.
Upon returning home, she said Reeves was covered in blood and threatened her into cleaning the work truck he had been driving.
She said when Reeves had not heard anything by nightfall on July 29 about Odom’s house burning down, he returned to find the house intact with Odom’s body still inside. She said Reeves then doused the house in gasoline and set it on fire.
The work truck Reeves had been driving that night was located with his former employer. The truck was processed by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab Scene Response Team and they collected swabs that showed the presence of blood. Those swabs are currently at the Washington State Patrol lab for further DNA testing.
Charges of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree arson, and intimidating a witness have been filed against Reeves, as well as the warrant for his arrest. He is currently in the Tillamook County Jail on a probation violation in that county.
