Cops said someone stole from Army veteran and murder victim Ricky Best last Friday. They released the surveillance footage on Thursday, showing the suspect leaving a train.
“The white male suspect in the black Jordan Brand hat, black t-shirt featuring Marilyn Monroe stole homicide victim Ricky Best’s backpack and possibly his wedding ring after the stabbing on the MAX,” they said in a statement published to YouTube.
The suspect was taken into custody on Friday morning. His name is George Elwood Tschaggeny. The 51-year-old was wearing Best’s wedding ring, police said.
“Detectives also recovered Best’s backpack, but some items were missing, including a wallet with phone numbers of some of Best’s long-time friends,” cops said. “The wallet is described as a military-style camouflage colored wallet.”
Tschaggeny is being held at Multnomah County Jail on charges of second-degree theft, tampering with physical evidence, and second-degree abuse of a corpse. An arraignment is scheduled for Monday.
Police said that on last Friday, Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, started harassing two girls on a Portland commuter train. He stabbed the three men who stood up to him. Best and 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche died. 21-year-old Micah Fletcher survived despite getting caught in the neck.
In an interview on Sunday, one of the girls, Destinee Mangum said Christian harassed her and her friend, who is Muslim.
“He told us to go back to Saudi Arabia and he told us we shouldn’t be here, to get out of his country,” she told KPTV. “He was just telling us that we basically weren’t anything and that we should kill ourselves.”
Update – June 2, 2:51 p.m.: Added more information on Tschaggeny’s arrest.
