PORTLAND, Ore. (TCD) — A 56-year-old man who pleaded guilty this year to killing a man in 1999 will spend the rest of his life behind bars in connection with the death of another person, whose dismembered remains were found in a shed.
On Monday, April 29, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced that a judge sentenced Christopher Lovrien to life in prison after 26 years served for the 2020 murder of Kenneth Griffin. A jury convicted Lovrien on April 15 of one count of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree abuse of a corpse.
In January, Lovrien pleaded guilty to killing Mark Dribin in 1999 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for one count of first-degree manslaughter. According to the district attorney’s office, Lovrien’s sentences will run consecutively, and he will not be eligible for parole until after 46 years served.
Dribin was last seen alive on July 1, 1999, and he was reported missing several days later. Officials discovered his vehicle on July 18, 1999, prosecutors said. Investigators reportedly found an unknown suspect’s DNA inside Dribin’s home and car. The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office issued a presumptive death certificate for Dribin, and the case went cold in August 2000.
The Portland Police Bureau reopened the case in March 2019 and submitted the unknown suspect’s DNA for further forensic genealogy analysis. According to the district attorney’s office, authorities identified Lovrien as a potential suspect in September 2019.
The second victim, Griffin, was last seen alive on Feb. 1, 2020, and was reported missing the following day. Around the same time, a grand jury indicted Lovrien on suspicion of killing Dribin, and he was arrested on May 4, 2020.
According to the Oregonian/Oregon Live, there were no witnesses in Dribin’s death, and his body was never found. Lovrien reportedly said at the time he was dealing methamphetamine when he met Dribin at an adult bookstore. Dribin worked as a night-shift cargo handler for United Airlines and allegedly invited Lovrien to his house on July 4, 1999. Lovrien reportedly said he fell asleep in Dribin’s bed and then woke up to Dribin coming on to him.
According to the Oregonian/Oregon Live, after killing the victim, Lovrien took Dribin’s vehicle and left it at a parking lot near his home. Lovrien reportedly informed prosecutors that he buried Dribin on Larch Mountain, but he didn’t provide the exact location.
Days after Lovrien’s arrest, he allegedly spoke with his brother on the phone and told him not to look in the shed. “There’s more to this than has been revealed, and it’s bad,” Lovrien reportedly told his brother. “I’ve got Satan in me.”
During a search of Lovrien’s shed, prosecutors said detectives found Griffin’s dismembered remains inside. His death was ruled a homicide. Police also recovered six firearms in Lovrien’s residence.
In March 2021, Lovrien was indicted on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with Griffin’s death.
Lovrien reportedly told the jury that he and Griffin were drinking when Lovrien forced him to leave after he allegedly attempted to steal his credit cards. According to the Oregonian/Oregon Live, Griffin got back into the home, and Lovrien said he shot Griffin once in the chest with a crossbow and then another time in the head. Afterward, Lovrien allegedly used an ax to cut off Griffin’s head before placing the victim’s body parts into three plastic bins and hiding them in the shed.
According to the district attorney’s office, investigators believe the killings to be “stranger-related” because “there is no known connection between Lovrien, Dribin or Griffin.”
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Tyler Mitchell