Update in the Kimberly Dunkin murder: Brad Ballantyne, accused of killing Kim on New Year’s Day in 1993, will face a judge for the first time.
Ballantyne was arrested in Vancouver, Wash. in mid-June. Dunkin was found shot to death in her car in the 4900 block NE Skidmore St. in Portland on Jan. 1, 1993.
Ballantyne was arrested by detectives with the Portland Police Bureau’s Cold Case Homicide Unit and booked into the Clark Co., Wash. Jail on one count of aggravated murder and one count of murder. The jail said he was scheduled to be in court to discuss extradition last Wednesday. He is being held in jail without the possibility of bail.
Dunkin was 30 years old when she reportedly attended a New Year’s Eve party the night before she was killed, according to the bureau’s Unsolved Cases website. The site said an autopsy showed that Dunkin had consumed cocaine and marijuana before she was killed, and investigators believed that her involvement with drugs may have had a role in her death.
Dunkin’s daughter, Alexis was a young child when her mother was killed. Last Wednesday, the family was celebrating Alexis’ graduation from high school in Lacy, Washington. Read more here.
UPDATE: Brad Ballantyne told the court he shot and killed Kimberly Dunkin on New Year’s Day 1993. He said he was doped up on drugs and drunk the day he killed Dunkin in northeast Portland. Ballantyne plead guilty to murder. He was originally charged with five counts of aggravated murder and two counts of murder. If convicted, a jury could have sentenced him to death.
Judge Frantz sentenced Ballantyne to 25 years in prison with the condition he meet privately with the victim’s family and answer their every question. He will be able to earn credit for good behavior and time served but will have to spend a minimum of 20 years before any reduction in time could be applied.