They Filmed His Death... He Told Them to Stop So He Could Kill Him | Tristan Thomas

You don't expect an apartment community to become the place of a violent struggle and eventually a homicide investigation. I mean, after all, these are people's homes, people's neighbors, a place where people raised their families. But in this case, that illusion of safety would be shattered. What should have been a peaceful Saturday evening turned into an argument, an ambush, and eventually a homicide, and all over a simple choice we all make every day. A parking spot. Tristan Thomas was a resident of Oregon and he worked as a mail carrier for the US Postal Service. He's remembered as lively, lovable, and vibrant by his family. He was one of those friendly faces that you see, and you just can't help but smile. He was also the type of guy who hated sitting still. He found joy being in nature, hiking, canoeing, camping, and he was really fond of forestry. If he wasn't at home or at work, chances are you'd find him surrounded by trees, hiking in the forest. The thing that most people loved about Tristan was that he was a very humble guy, very calm-natured, and very inviting. And that's what made him everyone's favorite mailman. He would greet everyone with a smile. He'd crack jokes just to make strangers laugh. And he was also the best part of many people's days. But none of the neighbors on his usual mail route could have expected what was about to happen to their favorite delivery driver. The thing about Tristan is that he wasn't a guy to boast about much of anything. But the one thing that he would always boast about was his daughter, Emma. She was only 11 at the time that this crime took place, and Tristan did everything he could to provide for her. He was a protector, and she was his best friend. Now, to most people, Tristan was a joy to be around, always easygoing, but he was no pushover by any means. When he saw something wrong, he tried his best to fix it. He was extremely protective of the people that he loved and he had an incredible love for life which everyone who knew him was a witness to. But someone somewhere saw him as a danger. And what started as a very small fight over a small issue turned into something extremely tragic and would leave Tristan's family completely broken. 43-year-old Tristan lived with his family in Twin Creek's apartment homes on Sunnyside Road in Clackamus, Oregon. And it was the fateful day of September 21st of 2014 when he got into an argument with one of his neighbors. See, sometime around the evening of September 21st, the police were called to Twin Creeks apartments and when the officers arrived at the scene, they stepped out of their cars to find an injured Tristan on the ground. The deputies went over to him and asked him what had happened. And according to him, he'd gotten into a scuffle with a neighbor. See, the neighbor had parked his motorcycle in kind of a weird way in a parking spot. And Tristan apparently had an issue with this. So, he went over to ask the neighbor if he could just park his vehicle correctly. Well, knowing what we know now, that neighbor, Christopher Stewart, he didn't like being told what to do. We don't know exactly what the parking problem was. Whether it was obstructing incoming cars, or maybe it was obstructing one of Tristan's parking spots, but the bottom line is that it was enough of a problem for Tristan to visit Christopher and just try to get the issue resolved. Well, that was when the argument started and it started getting heated. And then things were turning physical. And in an attempt to protect himself, Tristan pepper-sprayed Christopher in the process. Well, this only escalated things as they unfolded. Christopher proceeded to lunge at Tristan and pushed him to the ground and then physically assaulted him right there. This is what led to the injuries when the deputies found him. According to court documents in Clackamus County, Christopher overpowered him and the argument turned extremely violent. After the deed was done, Christopher simply got up and left, leaving Tristan on the ground with injuries to his face. Luckily, he wasn't seriously injured or anything, and he quickly got up, but he pulled his phone out and then dialed 911. And that's when the police got there. He was taken to a local hospital to get his injuries treated, but for some strange reason, Christopher was never arrested for this. The deputies claimed that there wasn't a probable cause for an arrest at the time of the incident. Now, this is a matter of debate for many people. Many people believe the police simply didn't do their job here, and that's certainly an understandable reaction. But to be fair, none of us were in the parking lot that day, so we can't really say what did or didn't happen, what was or wasn't said. Ultimately, they didn't see a reason to arrest Christopher, so they just left. When everything was said and done, Tristan went back home from the hospital, and after a couple hours, he dialed 911 again. This time, there were sounds of a child crying and possibly being abused by someone in one of the apartments. And those sounds seemed to be coming from the apartment that belonged to Chris. The deputies arrived at the scene once again, but they found nothing alarming. So, again, they left. Then a couple more hours passed and 911 received a call yet again and it was once again from Tristan. And this time he informed the police that there were people threatening him. Not just one person and not even two, but four people. But the most disturbing part of all was that this 911 operator heard the entire altercation go down. But what they never would have expected is they would also bear witness to Tristan losing his life. So, what exactly happened? Where did these four men come from? And what did they have to do with Tristan? Well, I'm sure you can guess who one of them was. He was none other than the neighbor he had a scuffle with just hours before, Christopher Stewart. He returned to his home and perhaps wanted to square things with him once and for all. But this time around, he brought back up with him. Christopher's friend Chad Michael Westover and Chad's cousin Samantha Christensen. See, after the whole altercation with Tristan that first time around, Christopher left to attend a party in Samantha's apartment. And there, Chad was present, too. Now, Christopher was still extremely angry and flared up about the whole thing, but fuel to the fire was added when his daughter called him and claimed that she was being followed by Tristan and that he appeared to be armed with a knife. Now, for any father, this would be a hearttoppping thing to hear. His child was in danger, so he sprang into action. He, Samantha, and Chad then grouped up and went over to his apartment to confront him. Now, to be clear, no court documents say that Tristan had done anything to Christopher's daughter whatsoever. As far as the facts take us, it seems as though these two at best maybe just met eyes as Tristan was passing by. There is zero evidence that Tristan even said one word to this girl. Now, some sources claim that Tristan encountered or interacted with Christopher's daughter, which apparently scared her. But other than that, there's really no further details, but Tristan certainly wasn't stalking, following, or even threatening her in any way. But whatever the girl's reasoning was, the group of three arrived at Tristan's house, and one of them even had a weapon with him. We know this because when Tristan spotted the group outside his apartment, he called 911 and told them that he was outnumbered, and one of these guys even had a firearm with them. So, four people, Christopher, his daughter Chad, and Samantha are outside Tristan's house, and he's inside arming himself with a kitchen knife to protect himself while on the phone with the 911 operator. Well, trying to get them to leave, Tristan stepped outside, and right away, he saw Samantha and the other neighbors filming this whole thing. And then, out of nowhere, Chad decided to step in and he turned to Samantha and told her to stop recording so that he could quote, "and handle this." and then he made his way towards Tristan. Even though she stopped recording, neighbors nearby still had their phones out and the whole incident was filmed. Chad and Tristan then got into an all-out brawl and the neighbors who didn't even know what was going on up to this point were pulled out of their houses due to screams of distress and cries for help. As the scene escalated, Chad actually stole the kitchen knife away from Tristan and then he used it to attack him. The thing is, this wasn't even Chad's fight in the first place. None of these men bothered to confirm whether Tristan was truly even stalking Christopher's daughter or not. These men literally just showed up purely to attack Tristan. There was never going to be any discussion, any reasoning. This seemed like a premeditated assault. And soon enough, what everyone feared came true. Chad gained the upper hand in that fight that wasn't even his. And Tristan was forced to pay the price for something he didn't even want to be involved in. If you remember, Tristan lived in his apartment alongside his mother. In fact, Tristan's own mother was one of the witnesses to the crime, and she along with the other neighbors kept pleading for Chad to stop. This whole ordeal lasted several minutes. This wasn't some quick scuffle. This took a lot of time and a lot of thought. And the whole time, Chad had the upper hand. He wasn't just here to teach Tristan some sort of a lesson. He was here to get a job done. And that's exactly what he did. In the end, he used Tristan's own knife against him and then he fled the scene. Once Chad had finally gotten off of him and took off, Tristan was left unconscious. And if you remember, Tristan had actually called 911 before the incident unraveled. Well, during that conversation, the call somehow got disconnected, and the operator called the number back to confirm an emergency. This didn't go unnoticed by Samantha, who then picked up Tristan's phone, answered the call, and confirmed there was no emergency. All the while, Tristan was lying on the ground fighting for his life. If that isn't an emergency, then I don't know what is. This whole case just keeps going from bad to worse. It's bad enough that Chad escalated such a simple misunderstanding to such disastrous proportions. But within seconds of the crime unfolding, Samantha then jumps in and reportedly tells the operator that everything's fine. The 911 operator truly had no idea what was even going on. But from the way Samantha made things sound, everything was fine and dandy. So, the operator never sent the police to the scene. But after all this unfolded, Chad had fled the scene, and I'm pretty sure the others probably did, too. But neighbors then went over to check on Tristan and then they called the police immediately because he was not in a good state. Tristan was first taken to Kaiser Sunnyside where life-saving measures were performed but ultimately he was admitted to the OSU hospital as he'd endured a lot of damage. The injuries caused serious brain damage and ultimately he fell into a coma right after he made it to that hospital. A seemingly normal day turned into a devastating nightmare for the Thomas family. his parents, his daughter, his loved ones. No one could have ever thought that this would happen to him. But in the meantime, the police also arrived at the scene and they started taking witness statements and even got their hands on a recorded copy of the entire assault. They now knew who they were looking for. Chad Westover was their guy, but they had to find him first. So, while looking for Chad, police very quickly learned that he had a significant history involving misconduct and assault accusations. Basically, at the time of the case, he was working as a general contractor, but before that, he was a physical education teacher for Portland public schools. Now, back in 2002 and 2004, he was actually served a formal notice for professional misconduct during his academic career by none other than the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission. This caused him to leave his job as a teacher and then work as a general contractor. But that's pretty much the only consequence he got for whatever misconduct this concerned. He was only stripped of his job. And then there were these local reports of three assault accusations against him as well, but they were unrelated. Even though not a lot of details are out there, what we do know is that he got no punishment for these accusations either. They were looked into by police, but he never got convicted for anything, which is kind of unbelievable, especially if you think about how he ended up in Tristan's case. But the police were now searching for Chad for literal weeks. They followed multiple leads, but eventually they did find him. And what's very interesting is that when police did find him and arrested him, well, detectives found thousands of dollars in cash on him, as well as his passport, it looked like he was about to flee the country. But luckily, he was caught before he could do that. Not long after the incident, Samantha, who was a resident of Happy Valley, also turned herself in on charges of first-degree assault, tampering with evidence, and hindering prosecution, as well as interference with making a report. She was held in jail, whereas Chad was able to post his bail and was released while the investigation continued. At this point, Chad was charged with just first-degree assault only. Keep in mind that Tristan was gravely injured and now in a coma, but he was still alive at this point. But when October rolled around, everything came crashing down, both for the Thomas family and for Christopher. See, after 2 weeks of being in intensive care and in a coma, 43-year-old Tristan Thomas, well, his injuries were too much. He passed away on October 3rd, 2024, and it was a lifealtering moment for everyone who loved him and was praying for him to wake up. Emma was left without her father. His parents were left without their son. The community was left without their favorite mailman who was more of a friend to them than anything. The person who checked up on the elderly in the neighborhood and was just a joy to be around altogether was now gone. All because of actions of a person who wasn't even directly involved in this argument that he had with his neighbor. Following the incident with Tristan, Chad was arrested and this time his charges were upgraded to seconddegree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence. He was also jailed without bail this time. And now it was time for a trial because guess what? He pleaded not guilty to all of these charges even though every one of the crimes was filmed. The trial was held at the end of September 2025. So this was almost a year after that fatal escalation. And the prosecution opened the trial with their arguments. And according to them, even though the fight was between Christopher and Tristan, Chad decided to step in and escalate what started as a simple altercation into a fatal crime. The state stressed that the victim was crying out for help and past the point of even defending himself, but the defendant just kept going, resulting in the grave injuries that ultimately led to his demise. Also, combined with the fact that Samantha intercepted the victim's phone and delayed the arrival of emergency services, which also led to Tristan's condition worsening, it was devastating to see all this unfold. This appeared to have been an intentional ambush because they all just ganged up to outnumber Tristan. And then Chad instructed his acquaintances to stop recording so that he could handle the situation, ensuring that nothing could be used as digital evidence. But thankfully, the whole ordeal was captured by nearby neighbors, whether he knew it or not. Also, the way that he asked Samantha to stop recording right before that escalation. Investigators suggested that right from the jump he was going to do something severe and he took precautions to not get caught and tried his best to ensure that there was no evidence. But also, if you remember, he was arrested while having his passport and heaps of cash on him. This could suggest he was trying to flee before law enforcement got to him. Even though the debate of whether the incident was premeditated or not is still up in the air and really not the primary argument of the trial, all of his actions were chilling to put it mildly. And they proved that he knew he was about to do something irreversible and eventually knew that he did do something irreversible and grave. But next, it was time for the defense to present their arguments and they claimed self-defense somehow. According to them, Chad had to do something to subdue Tristan because he allegedly started it. Tristan swung first. He was allegedly stalking his friend's daughter before the incident, and he'd also injured him during the incident. Moreover, Samantha, Chad's cousin, had taken pictures of his minor injuries to back the self-defense story. But this was actually kind of misleading because when Chad fled the scene after the incident and went to a doctor to treat his injuries, he lied to the doctor and stressed that the injuries were the result of a dirt bike incident. So, this just added another layer to the whole cover up angle. Chad's whole story was just one lie on top of another. But no one in court was hearing a word of it. The state argued that Tristan barely had any time to protect himself, let alone be a danger to the other person. He was overpowered from the start. He was pleading for help and for the attacker to stop. Now, yes, Chad suffered some injuries, but as far as we know, they could have easily been from some mysterious dirt bike accident. at least according to his side of the story. We'll never really know which side is actually the lie, but neighbors and onlookers, as well as Christopher himself, begged Chad to stop. The attack lasted for several minutes, and Chad could have ended it long before things got serious. Tristan was no longer a threat and was clearly in submission, but for Chad, that wasn't enough. But after three full weeks of deliberation, the jury reached a verdict. After hearing both sides and deliberating for what seemed like a literal eternity, the jury finally reached a decision in the case of Tristan Thomas. 53-year-old Chad Westover was found guilty of all charges except for the tampering with evidence charge. The sentencing was held in February of 2026, and Chad was given life in prison with a minimum of 25 years. But you might be wondering, well, what happened to Samantha and Christopher? Did they get punished or walk away with nothing? Well, kind of both. If you remember, Samantha did turn herself in, but because of her involvement in the incident, she was charged with a list of felonies. Now, her trial was scheduled to be held in 2025 separately after her cousin's trial concluded, but as far as we know, there really haven't been any updates on her sentence. Her jury trial is scheduled for September of 2026 now. So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. If we're to look at the facts, then firstdegree assault is a class A felony in the state of Oregon. The sentence for that is about 20 years, but as of present, there hasn't been any official or public reporting of Samantha's sentencing in this case. As for Christopher, the main person who had a dispute with Tristan in the first place, he ended up not being charged or convicted with anything related to this because he didn't really do much that second time around. It was all Chad. He didn't have any hand in the ultimate demise of the victim. So, he was pretty much free to go, just like the first time when he and Tristan got into a fight and no charges were filed. Now, he was the reason for all of these people showing up at Tristan's doorstep in the first place. But that in itself is not a crime. The real crimes unfolded when Chad jumped in. Regardless of who started what or going into specifics of who's at fault or who's not, the case is just tragic and it should not have happened in the first place. In hindsight, yes, a lot of the whatifs still haunt the aftermath of this case. There are a lot of questions whose answers honestly just don't matter anymore. A life was lost. Devastation followed and permanently ruined a happy and loving family. This should not have happened. And I just hope that Tristan's family and loved ones are doing well after this. Especially his daughter who was his entire world and now now she's lost him forever.