New evidence has surfaced in the 2020 double murder-for-hire case against Ken Atkinson, including witness testimony that shows the victims, Ray Atkinson Jr. and Natasha “Tasha” Newby, feared for their lives.

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Indictment: 2020 double homicide in Bend was murder for hire

Ray Atkinson and Newby, his fiancee, were found dead in the basement of their northeast Bend home on Aug. 15, 2020, by a concerned friend who broke in after police declined to enter the residence for a wellness check. More than a year, 50 search warrants and 500 pieces of evidence later, Bend Police arrested Ken Atkinson, of Ely, Nevada, and his nephew Nathan Detroit II, of Redmond, on suspicion that Atkinson, the brother of Ray Atkinson, hired Detroit to kill the couple.

The co-defendants have been held in the Deschutes County jail since their 2021 arrest, and are not scheduled to face trial until September.. However, new testimony recently surfaced in court records after Ken Atkinson’s lawyer filed a motion to exclude witness statements during the trial. The motion was ultimately withdrawn, allowing testimony from six witnesses — who all alleged Ken Atkinson threatened the couple on multiple occasions — into evidence.

The estate dispute

Prior to their deaths, Ray Atkinson and Newby had been open with their friends about ongoing tensions with Ken Atkinson, now 60. The brothers — who were born 20 years apart — had been in a dispute since their father’s death in 2019 over the house where Atkinson and Newby were living. Without a will, the brothers were named co-executors of the $400,000 estate but continued to fight over how to handle the property.

“(Ray) explained to me that he felt that Ken had done something to his dad and that they had been fighting over the estate … He said that it had gotten pretty bad, to the point where Ken had been physically threatening to kill him,” their friend Cody Guerin told the court during a hearing on Jan. 12.

Guerin continued, saying that Ray Atkinson suspected his brother had broken into home on NE 12th Street during their father’s funeral because when he and Newby arrived home, the house had been “broken into and a bunch of records to the estate were burnt inside.” Another friend, Jeremy Hoffman, revealed that he later helped Ray Atkinson install cameras around the house because of “people sneaking onto the property,” court records say.

“When I was there, he showed me a sidearm that he said he purchased because he was scared of Ken. Anytime that they would actually meet with Ken, they said they felt intimidated and scared and wanted to make sure they had a way to protect themselves,” said Hoffman in a Jan. 16 interview with the court.

Leading up to the murder

About two weeks before Ray Atkinson and Newby were killed, Guerin said the brothers decided to “settle the estate amongst themselves … and get rid of the law part of it,” according to court records. On Aug. 11, four days before Guerin found his friends dead in their basement, Ray Atkinson told Guerin that his brother was coming over that night to finally collect some items from the house. The pair had tried to meet up several times over the preceding weeks, but never could make arrangements work.

“I told him that I don’t think that’s a very good idea (with) everything Ken had said to him and threats and everything. I didn’t want him to let his guard down,” Guerin said. “I don’t know exactly what items were in the house that he wanted, but Ray had decided to go ahead and try to give him some things to try and cool it down.”

The last person to speak with the couple that night was Karla Edwards, a close friend of Newby. She too had noticed a shift in the way Ken Atkinson was treating his brother, saying in her court interview that “Ken had started to all of a sudden become very nice to Ray.” This made Edwards suspicious, and she warned the couple that Atkinson was “just trying to lure you in,” court records say.

That night, the two women were playing the video game “Call of the Wild,” which they frequently played together online. Newby told Edwards she couldn’t play for too long because “they were waiting for Ken to come.” At 10:04 p.m., Newby sent a message to Edwards saying she would be back soon. At 10:14, Edwards replied, “he finally show?” Newby never responded.

A tale of two brothers

Ray Atkinson’s lifelong friend Jonathan Maddox revealed more about the relationship between the two brothers and their father in his court interview. Maddox said that Ken Atkinson was already out of the house when he and Ray Atkinson were children. According to him, the brothers had an amicable relationship, but it soured as it became increasingly clear the brothers’ father favored the younger son.

“I recall one time I was over there and Ken had said the first thing he would do when Ray Sr. passed away was come to the house and kill all the cats,” Maddox said.

Edwards also shed some light on the brothers’ tense relationship, saying that at one point Atkinson had told her “Ken didn’t feel like (Ray) deserved any of his dad’s stuff because, as far as Ken was concerned, his dad should have never had Ray in the first place.”

Ray Atkinson also told Guerin that he had no intention of staying in contact with his brother after they settled the estate because of all the frustration and legal issues. At one point he messaged Guerin stating: “Things like this are why we won’t have a relationship when this is finally over. This is how he treated my dad … it’s just unforgivable.

Scared for his life

Almost all of the witnesses were aware that Ray Atkinson had purchased a handgun to reportedly protect himself from his brother. Maddox even revealed that his friend selected that specific model because it would be easier for Newby to handle. It took some convincing, Maddox said, but they eventually persuaded Newby to practice shooting the gun, “so if you do need to go that route, you’re familiar with it,” Maddox told her.

Maddox added he was surprised the couple had spent so much money on a firearm when they intended to move out of Atkinson’s father’s house and were already so tight on funds. Another witness, Tammy Bray, revealed that it was Ray Atkinson Sr.’s death that sparked the decision.

“Ray went and bought a pistol because he was scared of Ken … He said he didn’t trust Ken because Ken was unstable … you didn’t know what Ken you were going to get,” Bray said in her Jan. 18 testimony.

Ken Atkinson and Nathan Detroit’s trial is set to begin on Sept. 9, 2025. The pair will be tried together, and the trial is scheduled to take eight weeks.