Convicted kidnapper dies in prison
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – The Oregon Department of Corrections has announced that inmate Brian D. Katz, 64, died while incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary. As with all in-custody deaths, the Oregon State Police has been notified and the state medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
Katz, also known as Ronald Korthouse, entered the prison system on March 11, 1983, from Morrow County. His earliest possible release date was to have been Oct. 21, 2025.
He was convicted of kidnapping a Pendleton woman and two of her children from the parking lot at what was then Buttrey’s Grocery Store and taking them to a mobile home in Irrigon in September of 1982. He held them captive for several hours before releasing them. Charges against him included three counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree rape, and two counts of first-degree sodomy.
