Cegers brothers to be extradited, accused in downtown Bend fatal shooting

Published 5:15 am Friday, August 25, 2023

Two brothers facing charges in connection with a fatal shooting outside a downtown Bend bar will be extradited from a Tennessee jail to Deschutes County, the district attorney said Thursday.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s office approved the extradition of Caleb and Dahnte Cegers on Tuesday, according to Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels.

Gunnels said he anticipates the two brothers will be transported within the next month to face charges in Deschutes County.

The district attorney’s office has accused Caleb Cegers, 20, of Bend, of second-degree murder and the unlawful use of a firearm, according to court documents filed by Deputy District Attorney Brooks McClain on Aug. 18.

He is accused in the Aug. 10 fatal shooting of Taylor Wyss, 33, of Redmond.

His brother, Dahnte Nathaniel Cegers, 25, of Bend, is accused of hindering prosecution, according to court documents. Police believe he helped Caleb Cegers leave the area after the slaying.

After a nationwide manhunt, the two were arrested “without incident” in Cleveland, Tennessee, on Aug. 18, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

Wyss was shot by a handgun and killed on Wall Street in downtown Bend after a fight broke out in Duda’s Billiards Bar around midnight, police say.

Investigators believe the fight occurred after Caleb Cegers and Sadie Madalyn Cole — who authorities believe was dating Caleb Cegers — were asked to leave the bar because they were being disruptive. Wyss didn’t instigate the fight, Gunnels has said.

The Deschutes County District Attorney’s office accused Cole of hindering prosecution, fourth-degree assault and second-degree disorderly conduct, according to documents filed in the Deschutes County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Authorities have said Cole punched a bartender during the fight and then helped Cegers leave the scene in a car after the shooting. She has since been conditionally released, and her arraignment was scheduled Thursday afternoon.

The Cegers will be arraigned after they are transported to Deschutes County, Gunnels said Thursday.