Holly Ann Grigsby pleaded guilty on Tuesday to taking part in a campaign that involved the kidnapping, robbing and murdering of four victims in three states–one of which was Oregon. She did tell the judge, however, that although she was guilty it wasn’t of killing any of the victims. She reiterated that she didn’t kill anyone.
Grigsby was arrested for the heinous crimes back in 2011, along with David “Joey” Pederson. Both were charged in 2012 with 14 counts in a federal indictment that said they were white supremacists acting in a campaign to kill Jewish people. The two were initially going to be tried together. Now only Pederson will go to trial in July.
Tuesday’s plea hearing marked Holly Ann Grigsby’s first court appearance without David Pederson. Her plea deal in exchange for pleading guilty to a count of racketeering includes a life sentence. She will spend the rest of her life in prison without the fear of being prosecuted by any other state or federal authorities with regard to this case.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Shoemaker, Holly Ann Grigsby and David Pederson “murdered first Pedersen’s father, David “Red” Pedersen, accusing him of being a child molester, then his stepmother, Leslie DeeDee Pedersen as a “supporter” of that activity.”
Following the arrest Grigsby told a newspaper reporter that she had killed DeeDee Pederson because “white supremacists believe that men should not murder women.” She took back that statement in court Tuesday, however, claiming she didn’t murder DeeDee Pederson.
Senior Judge Ancer Haggerty asked Grigsby after she said, “Yes, I aided in the commission.”
“Did you stab her to death?”
“No,” Grigsby replied.
Did the state want David Pederson much more than they wanted Holly Ann Grigsby? It definitely sounds like behind closed doors she may have been offered a plea deal to turn on Pederson. It sounds like she played huge roles in these murders, however.
There were more victims, too. Following the murders of the Pedersons, David Pederson and Holly Ann Grigsby stole Red Pederson’s Jeep but eventually dumped it over an embankment. Next they enlisted the help of a friend to drive them to Newport. It was there they hitched a ride with a 19-year-old named Cody Faye Myers. When they tried to hijack his car, he put up a fight. Pederson then shot him in the head. His tragic, senseless death is detailed in the video clip above.
Pederson and Grigsby then traveled in Myers’ car to Eureka, California, where they dumped his car. Then they hitched a ride with Reginald Alan Clark, who they allegedly also kidnapped and murdered. Clark was African-American and Grigsby was later heard saying they had “killed a negro degenerate.”
Does Holly Ann Grigsby deserve the plea deal she got? Should she be put through the ringer the same way David Pederson will be in July?
Holly Ann Grigsby will be officially sentenced at a hearing in June.
Image via YouTube