I’m gonna get medieval on your ass.
– Marsellus Wallace, Pulp Fiction
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office says it will not prosecute a Portland man who killed his ex-landlord, saying the man acted in self-defense, according to Willamette Week. This story is a weird one so I will do my best to make it make sense to you. Here’s what you need to know:
The landlord, Justin Valdivia, rented a house on his property to four people and lived on the same property in a separate house with his wife.
Photo by Justin Shen on Unsplash
The tenants told police that Valdivia, 46, had threatened them twice before and tried to break into their house on a different occasion while drunk. The incidents rose enough alarm for the tenants that they started to record these incidents. Valdivia’s final visit to the rental unit would be his last, and perhaps his strangest.
Premiere Of Universal Pictures’ “Halloween” – Red Carpet
On September 15, 2022, Valdivia broke into the house dressed in a Michael Myers costume. A former tenant who was now staying as a guest in the house had placed a sword inside the couch cushions. The tenant told investigators that he had stacked a painting against the backdoor and placed a box on top. If the door was opened, the tenants would be alerted by the ensuing noise of everything toppling over. The contraption ended up being a brilliant plan as it made enough noise on September 15 for the former tenant to be alerted to Valdivia, dressed in a horror costume, who had a hammer in one hand and what appeared to be a gun in the other.
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
The ex-tenant reached for his sword after realizing he could not simply run away from Valdivia, who was blocking the door. Valdivia and the guest became embattled in a struggle when the ex-tenant stabbed the intruder with the sword. Despite two tenants performing CPR and making attempts to stop the bleeding, Valdivia died before the police arrived. Police would later determine the gun was a pellet gun with a black paint job and authorities deduced that Valdivia burglarized the house and was armed, giving the guests little choice but to defend themselves.