Christian Michael Longo (born January 23, 1974) is a convicted murderer who killed his wife and three children in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in December 2001.

Background

Christian Michael Longo was raised in

Ypsilanti Township, Michigan Ypsilanti Charter Township is a charter township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 55,670 at the 2020 census. The city of Ypsilanti is mostly surrounded by the township, but the two are administered autono ...

. In 1993, at the age of 19, Longo married 26-year-old Mary Jane Baker and had three children with her. Longo and his family often encountered financial difficulties due to his reckless spending habits. The Longo family lived in

Newport, Oregon Newport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It was incorporated in 1882, though the name dates back to the establishment of a post office in 1868. Newport was named for Newport, Rhode Island. As of the 2010 ...

. Christian was employed at a local

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

, while Mary Jane was a stay-at-home mother. She was also a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...

and active in their local Kingdom Hall. By all accounts, the two devoted their time to raising their three young children. At the time of the murders, the couple had been married for eight years and enjoyed

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

and

jigsaw puzzles A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is complet ...

in their spare time.

Murders

The body of four-year-old Zachary Longo was found on December 19, 2001, in Lint Slough, a backwater of the

Alsea River The Alsea River flows from Alsea, Oregon, Alsea, an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in the coastal mountains of the U.S. state of Oregon, to the Pacific Ocean near the city of Waldport, Oregon, Waldport. It begins at the confluenc ...

estuary. Divers located the body of three-year-old Sadie on December 22, less than a mile () offshore in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. 34-year-old Mary Jane and their two-year-old daughter Madison were found five days later. Mary Jane had been stuffed nude in suitcases found in the water near a ramp at Embarcadero Marina on December 27, 2001. Madison was found inside a different suitcase the same day, having been dropped off on the same dock. An autopsy revealed that Sadie and Zachary were killed by asphyxiation, while Mary Jane Longo and Madison had been strangled. After he fled the United States, Longo was recognized at a hotel in

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

, Mexico, on December 27, 2001. By that time, Longo was wanted in connection with the murder of his wife and three children. The next day, in

Lincoln County, Oregon Lincoln County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,395. The county seat is Newport. The county is named for Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States. Lincoln Coun ...

, a federal arrest warrant issued in the

United States District Court for the District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union. ...

charged him with multiple counts of aggravated murder and unlawful flight. He left the hotel on January 7, 2002, and was captured six days later without incident in the small town of

Tulum, Quintana Roo Tulum () is the largest community in the Tulum (municipality), municipality of Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is located on the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean coast of the state, near the site of the archeology, archaeological ruins of Tulum. Histor ...

, about south of Cancún. He was taken into U.S. custody at

George Bush Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Initially named Houston Intercontinental Airport upon its opening in 1969, it was renamed in ho ...

on January 14, 2002. He was sentenced to death in 2003. Years later, Longo admitted to being a

narcissist Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

in a letter he wrote to a woman that was obtained by television station

KATU-TV KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed independent station KUNP, channel 16 (which KATU simulcasts on its sec ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. He wrote that he eventually began "studying what a psychologist said I was and came to terms with it, almost totally agreeing that he was right... his conclusion was the

narcissistic personality disorder Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a life-long pattern of grandiosity, exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a diminished ability to empathy, empathize w ...

which he called 'compensatory' – basically self-centeredness related to a damaged core sense of self." When in Mexico, Longo used the name of Michael Finkel, the former ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reporter who later chronicled their experiences in his memoir ''True Story'', which was adapted into a 2015 film of the same name starring

James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), ''Milk (2008 American film), Milk'' (200 ...

as Longo and

Jonah Hill Jonah Hill (born Jonah Hill Feldstein; December 20, 1983) is an American actor. List of awards and nominations received by Jonah Hill, The accolades he has received include nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, BAFTA ...

as Finkel. Longo was incarcerated on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

Oregon State Penitentiary Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), also known as Oregon State Prison, is a supermax, maximum security prison in the northwestern United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland, Oregon, Portland in 1851, it relocated to Salem f ...

. On December 13, 2022, Longo's death sentence (along with everyone else on Oregon's death row) was commuted to life without parole by Governor

Kate Brown Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th distr ...

Organ donation advocacy

In 2011, Christian Longo founded Gifts of Anatomical Value from Everyone (GAVE), which advocates for

prisoners being allowed to donate their organs. Currently, most death row prisoners are denied requests to donate their organs because

infectious diseases within American prisons Infectious diseases within American correctional settings are a concern within the public health sector. The corrections population is susceptible to infectious diseases through exposure to blood and other bodily fluids, drug injection, poor healt ...

occur at higher levels than the general population, such as widespread cases of

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

, and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. However, Longo has countered that death row inmates interested in donating their organs could undergo intensive screening far ahead of their execution.

Background

Murders

Organ donation advocacy

See also

References

Further reading