Rejection of twins' 'life sentences' for killing Salem couple brings back family's pain

Whitney Woodworth
Statesman Journal

Twin brothers Lydell and Laycelle White were just 15 when they broke into the home of an elderly Salem couple. They wanted to steal a car and were looking to rob someone elderly, someone who would be an easy target. 

They crept through the window of a house on Chickadee Court NE, waking Richard, 82, and Grace Remy, 80. 

The teens panicked, beating, stabbing and finally strangling the couple before fleeing with their car, Grace's wedding ring and $23 in cash. 

The violent murders and subsequent arrest of such young suspects shocked Salem in the early 1990s.

More than 25 years later, the case is headed back to court after the Oregon Supreme Court tossed the nearly 67-year sentences given to each of the Whites, declaring they constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

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It's the first time the Oregon court has applied a previous federal decision to sentences that aren’t true life, but essentially add up to life because the number of years extends past a defendant's normal life expectancy.

Now 41, the brothers will return to Marion County Circuit Court for re-sentencing, though a date hasn't been set.

Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson's staff declined to comment on the ruling, but said they will comply with the court's order.

A nighttime robbery

The brothers already had extensive juvenile records before they broke into the Remys' home the night of Aug. 16, 1993.

The teens lived nearby but did not know the couple. They later said they decided to rob the Remys after their other target, an elderly woman, didn't answer her door. 

They brainstormed with their friends about other elderly people they could steal a car from. One friend mentioned Richard Remy, but told the twins not to hurt him because he was a nice guy. 

The brothers were not deterred. 

Laycelle and Lydell White, 21 at the time of this photograph, were sentenced to life for murdering an elderly couple in 1993.

They crawled into the Remys' home and the brutal attack ensued. Lydell beat Richard and Laycelle beat Grace. They stabbed Grace and continued to beat the couple with a bat, small musical instrument and their fists.

Laycelle White later told the Statesman Journal they killed the couple because Richard and Grace woke up and saw them. They didn't want the Remys to escape.

"Things got out of hand," Laycelle said. "Panic. I had to get the keys and get out of there."

After strangling the Remys to death, the teens made off with the couples' car, planning to leave the area. 

The brothers later said they planned to drive to California to see their father, who was in prison and nearing his release date. 

The car was found abandoned on Cordon Road NE following a chase at 3 a.m. on Aug. 17, 1993. An Oregon State Police trooper went to the Remys' home to inform them about their abandoned vehicle. After no one answered the door, the trooper left a note. 

When the trooper returned that night, he became suspicious — the note was still there.

The trooper walked into the backyard, found evidence of a break-in and discovered the Remys dead in their bedroom. 

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Nightmare haunts Remy family

The murders devastated neighbors and family, who described the couple as loving, devoted and friendly.

Richard, a retired manager, was known as a storyteller and patriarch of a large extended family in Salem. Grace was a devoted letter writer whose notes are now treasured by her grandchildren. 

The couple had four children and 10 grandchildren. 

News of his grandparents' death shook their family, grandson Jay Remy, of Salem, said to the Statesman Journal last week.

"To know that grandma and grandpa, who shared so much love with all of us, were attacked and killed the way they were — the way they died — was very, very devastating," Remy said.

"We just stopped talking about them because it brought back the horror of how they died ...," he said. "From the beginning, it's been a nightmare."

Richard and Grace Remy in the last photo taken before their deaths.

The murders did not remain a mystery for long.

Police traced the slayings back to the brothers after they bragged to their friends about killing the couple. 

They were arrested two days after the murders. 

It was not Laycelle's and Lydell's first run-in with the law. Their juvenile rap sheets included robbery, sexual assault, weapons charges and car theft. Lydell first entered the juvenile system when he was 13; Laycelle when he was only 12. 

The brothers were tried in adult criminal court and both convicted of two counts of murder following a 1994 bench trial.

Jay Remy said the family stayed involved in the court proceedings, hearing and rehearing graphic and nightmarish details of the attack. 

"It was brutal," he said. "It was horrific. They were terrorized. It was drawn out. They were screaming for help and nobody could help them."

At their sentencing hearings two months after the trial, Judge Paul Lipscomb sentenced Lydell to life with the possibility of parole plus almost 67 years in prison for his role in the killings. Laycelle received the same sentence. 

When delivering his decision, Lipscomb questioned whether the twins would ever change.

"Most of us cannot visualize something as brutal and graphic as what you participated in," he told Laycelle. "In my judgment, we cannot trust you ever again in our community."

Jay Remy said his family hopes the Whites remain in prison long enough for his parents to never see them released. 

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'Actions speak louder than words'

In the years after the murder, the brothers, who later became cellmates at the Oregon State Penitentiary, expressed remorse over the murders. 

"Ain't a day goes by that I don't think about what I did and the pain I put two families through," Lydell told the Statesman Journal in 1999. "It's not only victims' family that suffers, your own family suffers, too. My brother and I have done a lot of growing up in here, and we've come to grips with what we've done." 

They questioned the fairness of their almost 67-year prison terms, citing racial disparities in the criminal justice system. The brothers, who are black, pointed to Dominic Holmes, a white 16-year-old tried in juvenile court after murdering his mother. Holmes was released when he turned 21. 

Inmate Laycelle White appears before the parole board during a 2012 hearing at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.

Lydell and Laycelle said they tried to stay positive in prison and spoke to visiting teens about their mistakes. 

"We didn't think about the consequences of what we did," Lydell said about the murders. "We were caught up in a sick mentality. Our minds were so twisted. I can't even believe I was like that."

Remy said the brothers' decisions made the night of Aug. 16, 1993, mean more than any statements of regret or remorse they've given in the ensuing years. 

"Because of what they did, actions speak louder than words ... Lying would be nothing to a murderer," he said. "Their words don't erase anything, at least to me."

Remy said his family lived in fear for years after the murders. He woke up in the night to check their windows and doors. He often startled awake thinking someone was in his home.

But it started to get better as time passed — that is until Remy checked the news after spending the day fishing May 31.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that day that the Oregon Supreme Court overturned the Whites' sentences because they amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment under the 2012 landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Alabama.

The ruling held that it was unconstitutional for juveniles to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole due to their transient immaturity and developing brains.

Previous coverage:Oregon court tosses sentences for twins who killed Salem couple

Judge: Twins differ from Kip Kinkel

The twins' lawyer Ryan O'Connor said it marked the first time the high court has applied the Miller decision to sentences that aren't true life, but essentially add up to life through the number of years.

The sentence would have allowed for the brothers' release at age 81. 

In the ruling, Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters said the Whites' case was different from the sentence of Kip Kinkel, the teen convicted of killing his parents and two classmates in a 1998 Springfield school shooting.

Kinkel, whose crimes Walters said showed an irretrievably depraved character, was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. The courts upheld his sentence, saying Kinkel was "one of the rare juvenile offenders whose crimes demonstrate irreparable corruption."

Walters said the court did not demonstrate that the Whites fell into the same category as Kinkel.

"To be sure, the trial court found that the crimes that petitioner committed were heinous," she said. 

But, Walters added, it doesn't appear that the sentencing court took into account how children are different from adult offenders and how these differences point to not sentencing them to life in prison. 

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"This record does not convince us that the sentencing court reached the conclusion that petitioner is one of the rare juvenile offenders who is irreparably depraved or that no reasonable trial court could reach any other conclusion," she said. 

Grandson Jay Remy, a former spokesman for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, said the Whites' actions were not that of a typical, immature teen. 

"In 12 years, with 40,000 kids in the (Salem-Keizer) district, there was never anything that came anywhere close to something like this," he said. "It's definitely rare. It's definitely depraved. It's just not normal."

He said a just decision would be to keep the Whites behind bars. 

"The safety of the community ... is one thing," he said. "And the other thing is just justice — plain and simple justice."

Capi Lynn of the Statesman Journal and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth