Postal worker left in 'pool of his blood' after brutal Clackamas knife attack, dies: court docs
Editor's note: Details in this story may be disturbing for some readers.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Court documents are shedding light on a brutal knife attack involving an off-duty Clackamas postal worker, leading to his death.
The probable cause documents said that on Sept. 21, authorities received multiple phone calls from Tristan Thomas, a United States Postal Service mail carrier, reporting altercations with his neighbor at their apartment complex.
Clackamas County Sheriff's Office responded to both calls and the documents said no arrests were made, but there was evidence that Thomas had been injured by his neighbor Chris Stewart and also that Thomas had pepper sprayed Stewart at some point.
Later that night, around 11:19 p.m., authorities received another call from Thomas saying that there were four people at his location, including Stewart, Stewart's minor daughter, and then Samantha Christensen and Chad Westover, court documents said.
According to the court documents, video from Stewart's phone shows the interaction including Thomas on the phone with 911, and Christensen approaching Thomas to show that he had a knife in his pocket. During the incident, Stewart and Christensen accused Thomas of stalking Stewart's daughter, according to court documents.
Another neighbor began filming the incident, and the court documents said that Westover could then be heard saying "If you guys are done filming, I can take care of it," after which Christensen said, "I'm done, take care of it, Chad."
After that, documents said the assault was captured through a 4-minute-long audio recording by the same neighbor, as well as a 911 call from Thomas, during which Thomas can be repeatedly heard screaming for help as he is attacked by Westover.
Court documents state that during the attack, up to four voices could be heard yelling for Westover to get off of Thomas and that after the attack, Westover threw the knife down on Thomas before leaving.
The documents also said that Christensen took Thomas' phone after the attack and when 911 attempted to call back, she answered and said that everything was "fine" before hanging up, although Thomas could be heard in the background of the call yelling for help.
Thomas was left in a "pool of his blood" until law enforcement responded and performed life-saving measures before being taken to a hospital.
According to witnesses, no one ever saw Thomas approach or harm Westover.
During the incident, documents said that Thomas received a cut on his neck to the carotid artery and stab wounds in his face and shoulder and that in the hospital, he had multiple cardiac events, eventually leading to his death.
Court documents said that Westover was also wounded during the incident with a cut on his cheek and a stab wound on the torso, which he said came from a "motorcycle accident" when he went for medical treatment.
On Sept. 26, Westover was arrested on first-degree assault charges and released from custody on Sept. 28 after posting $75,000. He was then arrested again on Oct. 4 and held without bail on charges of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence.
Christensen turned herself in on Oct. 9 and currently faces charges of first-degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, hindering prosecution and interference with making a report. She is also being held without bail.
Westover and Christensen are both named as defendants in the case.
In a statement from Westover's attorney, they said that they plan on entering a not-guilty plea and will argue that the incident was self-defense.
Mr. Westover will be entering a not-guilty plea at his arraignment today. My preliminary investigation reveals that Tristen Thomas and Chris Stewart, neighbors in the same apartment complex, had been in a fight at about 5 p.m. on September 21, 2024. Mr. Thomas was seen by witnesses in the parking lot later that evening removing items from Mr. Stewart’s truck, following and confronting Mr. Stewart’s teenage daughter in the parking lot and lying in wait for Mr. Stewart with a kitchen knife in his pocket. The large knife can be seen in Mr. Thomas’s pocket on video when Stewart arrived at the apartment complex driven by Chad Westover. Mr. Thomas stabbed Mr. Westover one time in the face and one time in the ribs before any harm came to Mr. Thomas. The defense at this trial will be self-defense.
Thomas' mother and his 13-year-old daughter were in the courtroom Wednesday. His brother and cousin told KOIN 6 News they can't imagine why anyone would want to harm him.
"These guys were just thugs. They just went after him,” Phil Kostelnik, Tristan's brother, said. “They attacked him multiple times that day. He was just a likable guy, and again, he was trying to reach out to the police and do things according to the law. And these guys had a whole other game plan."
Thomas' cousin set up a GoFundMe following the attack, describing Thomas as "quirky, boisterous, lovable, vibrant and had a presence about him that brought a smile to many."
"Even all the people on his mail route have been so supportive,” Kostelnik said. “I didn't realize he touched so many lives."
According to the GoFundMe, Thomas succumbed to "extensive brain trauma and paralysis."
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact police.