In 1994, 17-year-old Kyle Hedquist was worried that Nikki Thrasher would turn him into the police over burglaries he had committed. Months prior, Hedquist had robbed Bryan Thouvenel at gunpoint while Thouvenel worked at Pizza Hut. Thrasher apparently know about the robbery, and to stop her from reporting the crimes to police, Hedquist tricked Thrasher into driving him to a remote area of Douglas County before shooting her in the back of the head and dumping her body on the side of the road.
Thrasher was 19 years old.
"She was probably the kindest heart that you'd ever want to meet," Thouvenel said of Thrasher. "She'd give you the shirt off her back. She was so incredibly sweet, nice, funny."
Hedquist was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But in 2022, Governor Kate Brown granted Hedquist clemency. In a statement, Brown said, "Kyle Hedquist was in high school when he committed this crime, and was 18 years old when he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole––a sentence far stricter than an 18-year-old would likely receive today. Over the next 28 years, he worked to rehabilitate himself, and exemplifies the type of personal transformation we should all hope to see from people incarcerated in our criminal justice system."
Now Hedquist is getting another chance, this time as part of the Salem, Oregon Police Review Board, a move that has critics questioning why a guy with his criminal record would get such a position.
Man kidnaps a 19-year old girl, shoots her in the head, and leaves her dead body in a ditch.
— matt thornton 🦍📚 (@aliveness_ape) December 30, 2025
Our Democrat governor commutes his sentence, so he’s now free, decades earlier than he should be, and nobody bothered to tell the dead girls family.
Today, in a 5-4 vote, he was…
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Thornton lives in Oregon.
"Today, in a 5-4 vote, he was appointed to a board that oversees police," Thornton wrote. "That’s the reality of government here, which actually affects my life and the safety of my kids. Government’s first and most important job is basic public safety. Any group that’s incapable of that is incapable of governance, and that should be everyone’s priority."
According to The New York Post, Thrasher's mother, Holly, did not know about Hedquist's release. "I am upset. I wasn't even told," Thresher told local media in 2022. "He took the life of my daughter in cold blood. It was a cold-blooded murder. He planned it," she said.
The Salem City Council believes Hedquist brings a "unique perspective" to the role. The board reviews complaints made against Salem police. Ward 6 City Councilor Mia Vang defended the decision to add Hedquist to the board.
"As someone who’s been through the criminal justice system, he understands community safety from a different angle. He’s one voice among nine — he’s not running the show, but his experience matters," Vang said. "Kyle’s recent work shows he’s genuine about turning his life around and using his experience to help others. And honestly? If any of us needed a second chance, we’d want the same consideration."
Most of us don't go on a robbery spree and murder a woman in cold blood.
Salem's Police Union president Scotting Nowning criticized the move, saying, "To think that we're providing education on kind of how we do what we do to someone with that criminal history, it just doesn't seem too smart."
The Professional Fire Fighters Local 314 also criticized the appointment. "As police and fire professionals in the Salem community, we are asking Salem residents to stand with us," they said in a statement posted to Facebook.
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