The suspect’s wife, who is a non-sworn Portland Police Bureau employee, was arrested on charges of hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence in the case.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A man has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection to a suspicious death in April 2021, police said. The man’s wife, who is a non-sworn Portland Police Bureau employee, was also arrested on charges of hindering prosecution, official misconduct and tampering with evidence.
Portland police received a call at about 1:40 a.m. on April 5, 2021, reporting a dead body on the sidewalk outside Providence Park. The deceased man was identified the following day as 53-year-old Jack Dekker.
Police did not release any further information about the investigation until Friday. In a news release, police said a Grand Jury had indicted Bruce Chirre, 38, for first degree manslaughter, second degree assault and tampering with physical evidence.
Chirre’s wife, 53-year-old Karen Chirre, was also indicted on three counts of Hindering Prosecution and one count each of first degree official misconduct and tampering with physical evidence.
The news release confirmed Karen Chirre is a PPB administrative supervisor assigned to the East Precinct, and has worked for PPB for 28 years. She has been on administrative leave since April 2021.
Bruce and Karen Chirre were arrested Friday and booked in Multnomah County jail.
The news release also said Dekker’s cause of death had been determined to be homicidal violence.
“Police personnel are held to a higher standard,” PPB Chief Chuck Lovell said in a statement. “Any time it is alleged that a member of the Police Bureau has acted improperly, we owe it to our community to conduct a complete and thorough investigation. I want to thank the hard work of officers, detectives, criminalists, and other Bureau members for their work investigating this case.”
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Jennifer Hertzler at Jennifer.Hertzler@police.portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-1040 or Detective Rico Beniga at Rico.Beniga@police.portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-0457 and reference case number 21-90461.
