Two receive life sentences in murder of outlaw biker

Posted

Two members of an outlaw motorcycle club received life sentences in connection with the 2015 kidnap, torture and murder of a former member of the club whose body was dumped near Ridgefield.

On April 14, Mark Leroy Dencklau, 61, of Woodburn, and Chad Leroy Erickson, 51, of Rainier, received life in prison following a December conviction in federal court of murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping in aid of racketeering resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death and conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death. Denkclau was also found guilty of a racketeering conspiracy.

Dencklau was the Portland chapter president of the Gypsy Jokers Outlaw Motorcycle Club and Erickson was a member, a release from the Oregon district of federal court stated. It described the club as a “hierarchical criminal organization” with members participating either directly or indirectly in “various acts of violent racketeering activity including murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, narcotics trafficking and witness tampering.”

The Gypsy Jokers have been active in several states since the 1980s, and until recently, operated six clubhouses in the Pacific Northwest, the release stated. The club also has chapters in Australia, Germany and Norway.

Dencklau served as the Portland chapter president from 2003 until he was arrested. The Gypsy Jokers oversaw a number of support clubs in Oregon and Washington whose members took part in criminal activity to support the Gypsy Jokers, serving as a source of new members and revenue.

Dencklau and Erickson’s sentence comes in connection with the 2015 death of Robert Huggins, an estranged member of the Gypsy Jokers’ Portland chapter. On July 1, 2015, Clark County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a field near the intersection of Northeast 179th Street and Northeast 15th Avenue in Ridgefield after receiving reports from loggers who spotted a body as they arrived for work.

Huggins’ body was badly beaten and he appeared to have been tortured prior to his death, the release stated.

Huggins was stripped of his club membership for allegedly stealing from the club, the Justice Department stated. According to indictment documents, Huggins told a member of the club that he owed the club $5,000 and was badly beaten by club associates.

Huggins broke into Dencklau’s Woodburn residence, tied up Dencklau’s girlfriend and stole multiple firearms, the Justice Department stated, after which Dencklau directed club members to find Huggins. 

According to trial witnesses, on June 30, 2015, Dencklau and others kidnapped Huggins from  Portland and transported him to a rural property in Southwest Washington. An indictment stated the property was near Woodland.

Huggins was severely beaten and tortured over the course of several hours, sustaining injuries that included a fractured skull, lacerations to his chest and torso, and his nipples were removed,  according to the Justice Department. His death was ruled to be caused by multiple blunt force and sharp injuries.



In 2018, Dencklau and Erickson received federal grand jury indictments alongside others in connection with the murder. Those indicted included Earl Deverle Fisher, 48, of Gresham; Tiler Evan Pribbernow, 40, of Portland; Kenneth Earl Hause, 64, of Aumsville, Oregon; Ryan Anthony Negrinelli, 36, of Gresham; and Joseph Duane Folkerts, 61, of Battle Ground.

Scott Erik Asphaug, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, acknowledged the sentences were years in the making, adding Dencklau and Erickson “will rightfully serve the rest of their lives in federal prison.” 

“These men prided themselves in using violence to intimidate others and increase their power and influence among club members and rivals,” Asphaug said. 

Both Asphaug and ATF Seattle Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan T. McPherson announced the sentences.

In December, the federal jury who convicted Dencklau and Erickson acquitted Erickson and Hause, the Gypsy Jokers national president, of racketeering conspiracy, the Justice Department noted. On April 12, Pribbernow was sentenced to more than 11 years  in federal prison following a guilty plea. Fisher, Negrinelli, and Folkerts have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Investigation into the case was supported by a number of agencies including the Portland Police Bureau and ATF, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and the Oregon and Washington State crime labs. 

The case was brought as part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, the release stated. Prosecution is the result of an investigation by the department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.