Naked Man Who Attacked Oregon Hunter while Pretending to Be Bigfoot Sentenced to 10 Years
OutdoorHub Reporters 03.16.15
Hunters often face many dangers in the wild, but a naked man claiming to be Sasquatch and armed with a handsaw is generally not among the usual hazards.
In October 2013, 58-year-old Jeff McDonald ventured into the woods of Manning, Oregon for a chance at bagging some venison. It was an area that he was familiar with, and known to be popular with other hunters as well. That was why when McDonald first saw 22-year-old Linus Norgren, the hunter’s initial reaction was to wonder why Norgen was dressed in tan clothing in the middle of deer season. However, it turned out that McDonald mistook Norgen’s completely nude body for flesh-colored clothes. The only thing the other man carried was a pruning saw in one hand.
“I was armed with a high-powered rifle,” McDonald told The Oregonian. “I thought he’s probably not going to do anything.”
Staying calm, McDonald asked the young man his name and what he was doing in the forest. Norgen simply responded that he was a Sasquatch from a family of Sasquatches. At this point, the hunter recalled making sure his gun was pointed away from Norgen to avoid upsetting him. McDonald even offered to help guide Norgen out of the woods. It was a bad idea. As the two men turned to leave, Norgen struck McDonald in the back of the head with a rock and the hunter lost consciousness.
When McDonald came to, he was on the ground and Norgen was attempting to strangle him. The hunter said that Norgen tried to gouge out one of his eyes and even shoved a fist through his mouth. With his shoulders dislocated from the fall, McDonald had a hard time fighting back, but managed to keep his attacker from inflicting further injuries. When the older man asked why Norgen was trying to kill him, the 22-year-old replied chillingly that “Sasquatch kills the hunter.”
The fight eventually came to a standstill and, unexpectedly, Norgen passed out. According to KPTV, McDonald was able to use this opportunity to retrieve his rifle and hold Norgen captive until police arrived.
Both men met again in a courtroom last Tuesday as Circuit Judge Thomas Kohl sentenced Norgen to 10 years in prison for the attack. McDonald addressed the court, saying that in the year and half since the encounter, Norgen has not accepted responsibility for the attack and has instead been in consistent denial.
“There’s no reason to believe that he is not physically and potentially mentally capable of repeating the same sort of attack that he did to me 17 months ago,” McDonald said.
In his defense, Norgen claimed that the attack was a byproduct of mental illness and an untreated bipolar disorder. Despite that, Norgen did not enter an insanity defense.
“I didn’t want to hurt him,” the young man said in court, adding that he was simply terrified.
You can hear Norgen’s account of the incident to the court below.
