Two Defendants Sentenced in “Extraordinarily Brutal” Warm Springs Murder Case

Jolena Warner and Antonio Brito Receive Lengthy Prison Sentences for 2008 Brutal Murder of Warm Springs Woman

PORTLAND, OR—On May 24, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown sentenced Jolena Warner and Antonio Brito, both from the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, for the murder of Lucinda Stwyer.

On November 30, 2010, Jolena Warner and Antonio Brito pled guilty to murder in the second degree and admitted that on September 24, 2008, they were responsible for killing Lucinda Stwyer willfully, deliberately, and with malice aforethought. Based upon their respective roles in the crime, Jolena Warner, age 30, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release and Antonio Brito, age 25, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

In imposing the sentence Judge Brown noted that the victim suffered an “extraordinarily brutal death” that involved stabbing and strangulation. Following the murder, the defendants used gasoline to set the victim’s body on fire.

During the sentencing hearing Judge Brown also noted that “both of the defendants were active methamphetamine users before, leading up to, and in the course of committing this extraordinarily brutal crime” and that “until we, as a community—each of us—steps up and takes responsibility to stop this behavior that does lead to the loss of human life, by homicide, by overdose, by simply taking away the potential of so many people; until we—as a community, as a nation—bring this to an end, this devastation will continue.”

Both Lucinda Stwyer and Jolena Warner are enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

This case was investigated by the Warm Springs Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin, the head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Gang Unit.