North Plains Murder Suspect Arrested, Police Say

TUALATIN, OR — Washington County Sheriff's detectives on Thursday announced the arrest of a suspect in connection with a murder outside of North Plains.

Newberg resident Christopher Jay Stephens, 40, was previously an unnamed suspect for the murder of 39-year-old Michael Zven Arch, also known as Reiner Ralph Schmolling, Jr., on Sept. 19 in the rural community of Mountaindale, which is roughly four miles north of North Plains.

After police learned Stephens was in the metro area, he was arrested with help from U.S. Marshals during a traffic stop at Southwest Boones Ferry Road and Southwest Avery Street in Tualatin around 2:45 p.m. Sept. 28. Stephens was lodged at the Washington County Jail on one charge of murder. He is not eligible for bail.

The sheriff's office previously named Chad Brandon Pitcher, 38, as the lead suspect in the murder case. Police say Pitcher should be considered armed and dangerous, and they ask anyone who sees Pitcher to call 911 immediately.

Arch, aka Schmolling, Jr., was killed on the afternoon of Sept. 19 outside a home in the 16000-block of Northwest Dairy Creek Road, a former dairy farm owned now by Charles Schmidlin.

Before he changed his name to Arch, Schmolling, Jr. was infamous among law enforcement in the Portland metro region, and Hillsboro in particular, for shooting Washington County Detective Gary Jensen in 1997. During the same encounter, Hillsboro Police K9 Hondo was shot and killed has he pursued Schmolling. Patch and several other news outlets erroneously reported that Schmolling killed Hondo. The Hillsboro Tribune and KOIN News clarified last week that Hondo was in fact killed (unintentionally) by another officer who shot at Schmolling but instead hit the dog.

Hondo Dog Park across the street from the Gordon Faber Recreational Complex and the Hillsboro Hops stadium was named in honor of the slain police K9.

Schmolling, Jr. went on to commit several other felonies in the tri-county area over the years and according to some deputies became somewhat of a household name among police.

At this time it's still unclear why Schmolling, Pitcher, or Stephens were at the Schmidlin residence on Sept. 19.

According to the Tribune, neighbors say Schmidlin's home has been without electricity for at least two months and that cows have been found grazing in nearby gardens. The home was formerly owned by Paul Schmidlin, Charles' father, who ran a dairy until the property was bequeathed to his children following his death in 2011, the Tribune reports. Since then, the southern portion of the property has been sold and the home has reportedly been occupied by Charles and upward of 14 other people at any given time.

(Police have not confirmed whether Schmolling was one of these people. Washington County Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jeff Talbot told Patch the investigation is on-going.)

Neighbors also told the Tribune that two shots rang out, possibly from a high-powered rifle, from the western side of the house.

Another local news outlet, the Banks Post, reported additional police calls to the same area within the past two weeks.

According to the Post, Washington County deputies were called twice on Sept. 6: Once for a reported altercation of some kind, and again after a woman said someone had been shooting at her home. No injuries were reported in either incident and no suspect information was given.

Talbot told the Tribune the property has been a hotbed of activity.

"We had a warrant arrest — everything, honestly," Talbot said. "We've been to the house multiple times for multiple reasons."

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call the Washington County non-emergency line at 503-629-0111.

Photo Courtesy: Washington County Sheriff's Office