Springfield Woman Charged in Half-Brother’s Meth-Related Prison Death

Pendleton, Ore. - Heather Lynn Sutherland is currently in custody at Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton, Oregon, following her transfer on September 17, 2025, after an initial arrest by the US Marshals in Lane County. She faces serious charges out of Umatilla County, stemming from allegations that she contributed to the death of her half-brother, Edward Paul Dungan. Sutherland's total bail is set at: $500,000

Court records in Case No. 25CR49108 detail charges of Second-Degree Manslaughter, Unlawful Delivery of Methamphetamine, and Supplying Contraband to a Correctional Facility. The indictment, filed on September 2, 2025, specifically accuses Sutherland of bringing methamphetamine into Two Rivers Correctional Institution on January 6, 2023, and delivering it to Dungan, leading to his death by overdose on January 8, 2023. She was initially booked into Lane County Jail on September 14, 2025, and is now awaiting trial at Umatilla County Jail.
Public records, including Dungan's obituary in the Eugene Register-Guard, confirm that Sutherland and Dungan, aged 36 at his death, shared the same mother and were half-siblings. Dungan was incarcerated at the Umatilla facility when he died.
Investigative details reveal Dungan was placed in a dry cell for nearly 80 hours. Dry cells lack any plumbing facilities: there is no shower, no sink, and the toilet has no water. The idea is that, if an inmate is believed to have swallowed contraband, it will eventually pass through the inmate’s body and prison officials can recover it after it does so. A state trooper’s investigation, linked to rising prison drug overdoses, confirmed this placement, suggesting internal smuggling. The charges tie Sutherland’s alleged meth delivery to Dungan's fatal ingestion, though the State Medical Examiner’s final cause of death report is still pending.

The family of Edward Paul Dungan, led by his sister Christy Running, blames the Oregon Department of Corrections for his death on January 8, 2023, alleging he was held in a dry cell for 79 hours, exceeding the state’s 73-hour policy limit, at Two Rivers Correctional Institution. Running has criticized the facility’s medical staff and officers for failing to transfer Dungan to a hospital despite his deteriorating condition. The family has said they are pursuing a lawsuit against Two Rivers Correctional Institution and the Oregon Department of Corrections, seeking accountability and transparency. You can read more from Dugan's family here.

Edward Paul Dungan was incarcerated at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, Oregon, serving a 20-year sentence following a 2020 conviction. Court records indicate the 31-year-old Eugene man pleaded guilty to six charges, including attempted murder, after shooting Senior Trooper Gerald Ellis in the chest while in a stolen car south of Creswell. The trooper’s bulletproof vest likely saved his life, and despite being shot, Ellis pursued Dungan, who was captured a mile from the scene by other officers.

This information is based on court documents, jail records, and public reports.

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