Blue City Appoints Murderer Of Teen Girl To Police Review Board

A convicted murderer who executed a teenage girl has been reappointed to a police oversight board in a left-leaning Oregon city, with supporters arguing he brings a valuable “perspective” to reviewing complaints against law enforcement.

Kyle Hedquist, 47, was voted back onto Salem’s police review board by a narrow five-to-four City Council vote, despite having spent 27 years in prison for murder, according to the Statesman Journal. The board reviews police complaints and includes members who train with officers and participate in ride-alongs.

Hedquist was sentenced in 1994 to life in prison without parole for the killing of 19-year-old Nikki Thrasher. Prosecutors said he led Thrasher down a remote road and shot her in the back of the head to keep her from reporting a burglary spree.

He was released in 2022 after then-Gov. Kate Brown argued Hedquist “shouldn’t be locked up for life” because he was 17 at the time of the execution-style killing.

City leaders who backed the move defended Hedquist’s role on the board, saying his criminal history offers insight others lack.

“He brings a perspective that most of us don’t have,” Ward 6 City Councilor Mai Vang said in a video shared after the Dec. 8 vote. “As someone who’s been through the criminal justice system, he understands community safety from a different angle. He’s one voice among nine, he’s not running the show, but his experience matters.”

Vang acknowledged that Hedquist’s felony conviction makes him ineligible for police ride-alongs, adding that the city will waive the rule that applies to other board members.

“Kyle’s recent work shows he’s genuine about turning his life around and using his experience to help others. And honestly? If any of us needed a second chance, we’d want the same consideration,” she said.

BREAKING – In a 5 to 4 decision, the Salem City Council in Oregon has appointed Kyle Hedquist, whose sentence for murdering a 19 year old in 1995 and leaving her in a ditch was commuted in 2022, to the police oversight board and civil commission. pic.twitter.com/KpDUyjfP1K

— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) December 30, 2025

The decision sparked immediate backlash from police and firefighters in the Democrat-led city.

“To think that we’re providing education on kind of how we do what we do to someone with that criminal history, it just doesn’t seem too smart,” Salem Police Employees’ Union President Scotty Nowning told KATU2.

Salem Professional Fire Fighters Local 314 also condemned the move, urging residents to oppose it in a statement posted on Facebook.

Hedquist attended the meeting at the Salem Public Library with his wife and thanked council members for reappointing him.

“I felt like the things that some of the councilors said were just as important or more important than reappointing me,” he said, according to the Statesman Journal.

For the victim’s family, the decision reopened old wounds.

“I am upset. I wasn’t even told,” Nikki Thrasher’s mother, Holly Thrasher, said after Hedquist was released from prison in 2022.

“He took the life of my daughter in cold blood. It was a cold-blooded murder. He planned it,” she said.

Local police officers also blasted Hedquist’s release at the time, calling it “shocking and irresponsible.”

Now, with Hedquist seated once again on a board meant to oversee law enforcement, critics say Salem’s leaders have crossed a line, elevating a convicted killer over the officers tasked with keeping the community safe.

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