CLACKAMAS, OR – A former teacher was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of an off-duty postal worker during a violent altercation at their apartment complex that was captured on video by neighbors.
Chad Michael Westover, 53, received the sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon in the death of 43-year-old Tristan Salvatore Thomas, according to the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office. Thomas died at a hospital on Oct. 3, 2024, nearly two weeks after the Sept. 21 attack.
During sentencing, Westover offered an apology while attempting to justify his actions. “My instincts kicked in. I’m sorry,” he reportedly told the judge. “I think forgiveness is the best revenge. We will get there over time, I hope.”
The victim’s mother, Beth Kostelnik, who witnessed the attack, urged the court to impose the maximum sentence possible. “He has shown no remorse for killing my son and taking him away from us,” she told the judge, according to local Fox affiliate KPTV. “He has just shown arrogance through this whole court system. I think if he gets out he is going to do it again.”
The deadly confrontation occurred at the Twin Creek Apartment complex on SE Sunnyside Road in Clackamas, just outside Portland. According to a 168-page probable cause arrest affidavit, the incident began earlier that day when Thomas confronted neighbor Christopher Stewart over motorcycle parking at the complex.
Stewart allegedly assaulted Thomas, sending him to the hospital, but deputies determined there was insufficient probable cause for an arrest. After receiving treatment, Thomas returned to the complex while Stewart and Westover attended a party hosted by 48-year-old Samantha S. Christensen.
The situation escalated when Stewart received a call from his teenage daughter claiming she was being followed by a “strange man” in the complex, identified as Thomas, who was allegedly carrying a butcher knife, according to court documents.
Video footage captured by neighbors shows Westover telling others, “If you guys are done filming, I’ll take care of it,” to which Christensen, who is Westover’s cousin, replied, “I’m done, take care of it, Chad,” according to the affidavit.
The assault lasted nearly five minutes, during which Thomas “repeatedly screamed for help” while Westover attacked him with a kitchen knife, court documents state. Several neighbors and Thomas’ mother yelled at Westover to stop the attack. Thomas suffered multiple stab wounds, including a 4-inch slash to his left vertebral artery, prosecutors said.
“After leaving Mr. Thomas in a pool of his blood, Defendant left the scene with Samantha Christensen and at no point called 911,” detectives wrote in court documents. Christensen allegedly took Thomas’s phone from the scene and told 911 dispatchers that everything was “fine” when they called back.
Prosecutors revealed that Westover had a history of concerning behavior, including being kicked out of a grocery store about a month before the murder with a gun in his vehicle, telling officers he was “prepared to die.” He also lost his teaching license in the early 2000s for using force while disciplining students, according to The Oregonian.
Westover fled the scene but was arrested several days after the attack. His defense attorneys claimed Thomas was the aggressor and was an “unreasonable and unstable man” who was intoxicated the night of the crime, prosecutors said.
Christensen faces charges of first-degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, hindering prosecution and interference with making a report. She told detectives that Thomas first attacked Westover with the butcher knife, but investigators noted the “curious” placement of Westover’s wounds and absence of defensive injuries.
Thomas’s family established a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses, describing him as “a pillar to his community giving back by delivering mail to the same community he grew up in” and someone who was “quirky, boisterous, lovable, vibrant and had a presence about him that brought a smile to many.”
