Madras woman, facing murder charge, pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2022 fatal shooting of her ex-husband

Sentencing takes place in 2 weeks; both sides recommend nearly 18-year prison term

MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 27-year-old Madras woman entered a negotiated guilty plea Monday afternoon to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter in the December 2022 fatal shooting of her ex-husband and faces a likely sentence of nearly 18 years in prison.

Deschutes County Circuit Judge Alison Emerson, who has been overseeing the case, accepted the plea petition signed Monday by Paige Jordan Vannorsdall, which recommends dismissing the second-degree murder charge she faced. Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to recommend a 214-month sentence, followed by 26 months of post-prison supervision.

"On December 16, 2022, I intentionally caused the death of Devyne Briggs, another human being. At the time of the homicide I was acting under an extreme emotional disturbance, such that I lost the capacity to control myself and forgo the homicide," Vannorsdall, who initially pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges, stated in her plea petition.

Emerson scheduled sentencing in two weeks.

Briggs, 28, of Prineville, sustained several gunshot wounds at Vannorsdall’s home in southeast Madras. The couple married in 2015, divorced five years later and Vannorsdall was granted sole custody of their son, who was 6 at the time of the killing.

The couple had been disputing whether Briggs was fulfilling terms of the court-ordered parenting plan.

At Monday’s hearing, Jefferson County District Attorney Steve Leriche told Emerson, “We have agreed to a resolution of this case,” saying it “represents a compromise”  between the sentences that a murder or manslaughter conviction could have resulted in.

Leriche said the families of the victims were advised of the sentencing. “They are not in agreement with it, and they are present,” the DA said.

Those emotions were evident later in the proceeding, when a man in the courtroom shouted a brief statement that included an obscenity, and crying could be heard as the hearing ended. The sentencing is likely to bring similar emotions to the surface in the closely watched case.

The judge said all parties will be present in the courtroom, unlike Monday’s hearing, when Emerson appeared by video from a Bend courtroom and Vannorsdall was on camera from the jail. She answered questions about what she agreed to in the petition, saying, “Yes.” and when Emerson asked, “How do you plead?” she responded: “Guilty.”

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