Former detective disputes allegation of ‘investigative misconduct’ in bite-mark evidence murder case

The destruction of a beer bottle and bag of chips found in the same Eugene motel room as the body of 24-year-old Lori Stabenow should result in dismissal of all charges against a man once convicted of her murder, a defense attorney says in a new court filing.

The bottle and bag had fingerprints on them that didn’t match those of Robert Lyons, the man convicted in 1990 of murdering Stabenow. 

Lyons, 61, had his conviction overturned earlier this year but remains charged with Stabenow’s murder.

Before destroying the bottle and bag, “police did not swab or otherwise preserve biological material that was present on them, so their destruction has completely eliminated any opportunity for forensic testing of biological evidence contained on the items,” states the document filed Friday, Oct. 9, by defense attorney Byron Lichstein with the Portland-based Forensic Justice Project.

The document calls the items’ destruction “inexplicable” and “an egregious example of an investigation that was biased.” Arguing a violation of Lyons’ constitutional right to due process, the court filing alleges “investigative misconduct.”

But the lead Eugene police detective in the 1989 murder case in a phone interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield disputed claims of misconduct.

There was a “plethora of evidence that was relied on to convict Bob Lyons,” said Les Rainey, 74, including how Lyons’ wallet was found beneath the bed of Stabenow, who had been fatally strangled and sexually assaulted. Rainey retired in 2000 from the Eugene Police Department.

Jurors in 1990 heard testimony about the unidentified person’s fingerprints on the items, with prosecutors stating the prints could have come from a factory or store worker.

The destruction of the items was not disclosed, however, according to a new statement by one of Lyons’ defense attorneys in 1990.

That attorney, Anthony Rosta, who retired earlier this year, stated in a court filing that, based on his memory, he “was never made aware, at any time during my representation of Mr. Lyons, that the beer bottle and chip bag were destroyed by police shortly after police received the results of the latent print analysis” showing prints that did not match Lyons or Stabenow.

Documents filed Friday state Rainey, a few weeks after Stabenow’s death, “retrieved the beer bottle and chip bag from the property department and destroyed them.”

Rainey, asked about the destruction of the beer bottle and chip bag, said Monday, “I don’t have an independent recollection of that.”

Lyons in Stabenow’s room

Lyons had a judge overturn his conviction this year because jurors in 1990 heard evidence that his bite matched marks found on the body of Stabenow.

A new state law officially designates such bite mark analysis as a discredited forensic science, and Lyons, at the time represented by attorneys with the Forensic Justice Project, became the first person in Oregon to have a conviction tossed out because of bite mark evidence.

Testimony from the 1990 trial described Lyons, who at the time was in Eugene attending truck driving school, socializing with Stabenow on the night she was killed.

Her mother managed the motel, the Stage Stop Inn, on West Sixth Avenue.

Defense attorneys have described physical contact between Stabenow and Lyons when they met, apparently for the first time, while in her brother’s room: “Ms. Stabenow flirted with Mr. Lyons, including sitting on his lap and kissing him on the cheek,” the most recent court filing states, citing trial testimony.

Earlier, Lyons and Stabenow’s brother, Leon Elliott, had been drinking in the room, with Stabenow and her 5-year-old daughter later coming by.

Stabenow left the room after arguing with her brother, in part about talk of him working a trucking job after Lyons raised the idea, according to court documents. Lyons and Elliott left to drink elsewhere.

According to defense attorneys for Lyons, upon their return, Lyons went alone to Stabenow’s room because he wanted to apologize. He found the door ajar.

“Mr. Lyons saw through the door that Ms. Stabenow was on the floor. He assumed that she was passed out drunk, so he went inside, picked her up, and put her on the bed. Mr. Lyons then left Ms. Stabenow’s room and went back to his own room,” the court filing states, citing trial testimony. 

Court documents show that Stabenow’s mother, Sharon Jones, testified that Lyons told her he entered her daughter’s room to place her on the bed.

Next steps

A Lane County judge in July granted a release on bond for Lyons pending a new trial, and defense attorneys have since filed various motions questioning the charges against him and, most recently, the police investigation into Stabenow’s death.

Before Friday’s court filings, a hearing was scheduled for Nov. 5 to consider arguments that the original indictment of Lyons should be tossed out.

Janis Puracal, executive director and attorney with the Forensic Justice Project, declined to comment further on the motion filed Friday. 

In an email Tuesday, Puracal said she expects over the next two months a response to be filed by prosecutors, and then a future hearing scheduled to discuss the issues raised in the filing.

Rainey, the former detective, said he recalled Lyons having a “very unusual bite pattern,” but said he had no problem with arguments against the credibility of bite mark evidence.

“I don’t fault Oregon for taking a step back from this evidence and saying it’s not sufficiently reliable enough to support a conviction. We didn’t know that at the time,” Rainey said.

He said he doesn’t fault Lyons’ efforts to have the conviction overturned based on what jurors heard about bite marks, which he called a significant part of the case against Lyons during his trial.

“I don’t have any problem with Bob Lyons, though I believe he’s the killer. I’m convinced of it,” Rainey said.

He said, however, that defense attorneys are wrong to assert misconduct, adding, “I never had a case that was overturned.”

“It doesn’t serve any purpose in my mind for police to turn around and alter or fabricate evidence,” Rainey said.

Doing so creates a risk that the “real person goes out and commits another like crime, or worse,” Rainey said. “It just wasn’t even a temptation.”

Rainey said that after his time as a police officer, he worked as a criminal investigator, often for defense attorneys.

He said he believes Lyons’ attorneys are “blowing smoke” with claims of misconduct.

“When you can’t argue the facts, what do you do? You argue the witnesses [to] create a doubt within the jury’s mind that investigators weren’t acting in good faith,” Rainey said. 

Most ‘compelling’ evidence

“To me, the most compelling piece of evidence was the wallet found at the foot of the bed, just underneath the edge of the bed,” Rainey said.

Defense attorneys, citing trial testimony, said in the court filing the plastic case “tended to slip out of Mr. Lyons’ pocket.”

Rainey said he recalled Lyons being interviewed by police and claiming the wallet could have fallen from a pocket, but not being able to demonstrate it slipping out to investigators.

“He did gyrations trying to make it happen,” Rainey said.

Defense attorneys also describe how the bottle, in particular, had it not been destroyed, could have been tested for saliva,  DNA, and fecal matter, as it may possibly have been used in the sexual assault of Stabenow.

Lane County District Attorney Christopher Parosa declined to comment on Friday’s motion by defense attorneys.

“Because this is open and pending litigation, I cannot discuss the matter,” Parosa said Monday. 

Parosa has previously said evidence was being sent for DNA testing, stating in July that his office has “submitted additional evidence for testing, which will take some time.”

Chelsea Deffenbacher, a Eugene Police Department spokesperson, declined to comment Monday, citing the ongoing criminal case.

The court filing Friday describes a “handwritten note from the property officer indicating that the destruction was not performed or authorized by the property department.”

This handwritten note was first disclosed to defense attorneys as part of a 2009 case seeking to overturn Lyons’ conviction, according to a statement Lichstein filed in court.

Yet in 2025, police did not provide the document with the handwritten note, according to court documents filed Friday.

The court filing Friday also restates allegations that police likely contaminated evidence by allowing bite mark molds that came into contact with Lyons’ saliva to be placed directly on the body of Stabenow.

“These actions (1) altered the bitemarks on the body and (2) contaminated the crime scene by transferring DNA and other biological evidence from Mr. Lyons into the crime scene,” the document states.

Rainey said he questioned whether defense attorneys were presenting an accurate account of what was done at the crime scene.

“My belief is they may have their sequence of that whole process wrong,” Rainey said.

The filing Friday also notes that hair microscopy evidence, also now considered a discredited forensic science under Oregon law, was used against Lyons.

Lyons has maintained his innocence for 37 years of incarceration, the court filing states.

“Considering the totality of what occurred during the initial investigation, the trial, and the wrongful imprisonment, it would violate due process to permit the case to be retried. This Court should order dismissal of the charges,” the document states.