Oregon Inmate Dies Less Than Six Months After Sentencing

The Oregon Department of Corrections notifies the public whenever an inmate dies in their custody (something Washington State doesn't).  Many times the inmate is of an advanced age and is serving a lengthy sentence.  It's the rare instance when a younger inmate passes in custody and even more so when that inmate is of a relatively younger age.

The death (and circumstances around it) commands an even greater focus when the inmate was responsible for one of more horrific series of crimes in recent Beaver State memory.

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Michael Panarites Was 40 Years-Old & Sentenced To 50 Years In Prison

Panarites descent began in December of 2020 when he began a two-and-a-half year harassment of the mother of his child.  Harassment was the least of his crimes by the time he was arrested in May of 2023.

Panarites went so far as to try to have his former partner (and her mother) killed an even tried to enlist his own parents to help.  When police eventually caught up to him, KPTV in Portland reported Panarites car had 100+ rounds of ammunition, multiple loaded magazines, stolen loaded/functioning firearm, machete, axe, crossbow, bolts, and numerous stolen license plates.  Wow!

Panarites was convicted in February of the following crimes:

• Attempted Murder in the Second Degree Constituting Domestic Violence
• Solicitation of Murder
• Stalking
• Unlawful Possession of a Firearm (Two Counts)
• Felony Unlawful Use of a GPS Device (Six Counts)
• Attempted Felony Assault in the Fourth Degree Constituting Domestic Violence
• Attempted Assault in the Fourth Degree Constituting Domestic Violence (Three Counts)
• Harassment Constituting Domestic Violence (Two Counts)
• Coercion Constituting Domestic Violence (Two Counts)
• Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree
• Sodomy in the First Degree Constituting Domestic Violence (Three Counts)
• Rape in the First Degree Constituting Domestic Violence (Two Counts)
• Unlawful Sexual Penetration in the First Degree Constituting Domestic Violence

He was sentenced in May to 50 years in prison and began serving his sentence.  Sunday night (September 7th), the ODOC announced Panarites had died in custody at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla less than four months after sentencing.

Speculation begins to run rampant under those circumstances.  The crimes he was convicted of certainly sit well among many in general population.  Could he have been the victim of an attack by another or multiple other inmates?  50 years is a looong time, the rest of his life really, to spend behind bars.  Was Panarites able to find a way to shorten his stay by his own hands?

The answers to those questions will come after the evidence collected by ODOC staff and ensuing investigation by Oregon State Police concludes.  It is also entirely possible that Panarites died of a disease or other non violent affliction he may have had at the time he went to prison.  Only time, and the investigation, will tell.