"He tried to kill me," 87-year-old Annemarie Abraham told the 9-1-1 dispatcher. "My son tried to kill me," the shaken woman said.
That call started Gilbert Leo Koerger, a successful Lake Oswego engineering consultant with no criminal record, on the path to a 16-month prison sentence.
Koerger was charged with attempted murder and several other crimes. As part of a plea agreement, he was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon, strangulation and fourth-degree assault. Clackamas County Presiding Judge Robert Herndon sentenced Koerger on Tuesday.
"This is a family that has some interesting dynamics, that's for sure," said Herndon, who handled a settlement conference that led to the plea deal. "Dysfunction that has been simmering for years" finally boiled over, the judge observed.
Given Herndon's familiarity with the case, Senior Deputy District Attorney John Wentworth did not delve into the details during the brief court session.
Police reports and Abraham's 9-1-1 call shed some light on the bloody confrontation that occurred last summer at Abraham's Lake Oswego home.
Abraham told police that until morning of Aug. 13, 2012, Koerger had been the perfect son. But investigators concluded there was bad blood between the two that dated back decades.
Koerger, 68, told detectives that some 25 years ago that his stepson didn't receive a birthday check from Abraham. When the stepson visited Portland last August, Abraham refused to see him. At the same time, she rebuffed Koerger's ex-wife, incidents seemed to reignite some buried animosity.
During a Sunday night dinner at Abraham's house on Aug. 12, Koerger asked Abraham to apologize to his ex-wife. She refused and, after a long argument, he went home.
Koerger returned around 2:30 the next morning to continue the discussion but left because Abraham wasn't wearing her hearing aids. Then, around 8:30 a.m., he returned again.
Each offers a different account of what happened next.
Koerger said he came back to resolve the dispute. He said they scuffled, he left the room and returned a short time later with a guest-room pillow. He said he wanted to "knock some sense into her," a phrase Abraham occasionally used.
The feisty but frail widow said she awoke with a pillow over her face. She fought her unseen attacker, twice feigning death.
As she struggled, she could see her assailant was her 275-pound son. Never had she seen so much hatred in a human being's eyes, Abraham said.
She began asking him, "Why, why."
You're vindictive, mean-spirited and "just like you mother," he told her, knowing it would inflict a deep wound.
Police found Abraham lying on her bed, badly bruised with a bloody bandage wrapped around her right forearm.
Koerger told police he was angry and not thinking clearly. When he came to his senses and stopped the assault. Although he urged her not to call the cops, Abraham locked herself in the bathroom and dialed 9-1-1.
When Koerger saw the word "strangulation" in a police report, he corrected the investigator. Koerger said he didn't try to strangle his mother, he attempted to suffocate her.
Koerger did not address the court, and, despite his request that his lawyer, Michael Knapp, also not speak on his behalf, Knapp made a brief comment.
Koerger is "an excellent man, a great family man, a businessman, a great member of this community," Knapp said. "He's a good man who had a very bad day."
Despite your accomplishments, "you crossed the line," Herndon told Koerger.
"I'm sorry for you and your family," Herndon said.
A handful of Koerger's family members and supporters attended the sentencing.
His mother was not among them.
Steve Mayes: 503-294-5916