A Chapter of Local History Some Might Want Forgotten
By
Brad Smith
"I do not value human life very much. My feeling is the only thing wrong with the planet is there's people on it. If not for us, all the other animals, even dodo birds, would be here." -- Susan Monica during her videotaped interrogation.
Contrary to a popular belief held by some, small rural communities aren't utopias.
Take Wimer, for example.
On the surface, it does look like an idyllic wilderness with quaint houses and jovial folks.
Reality check: Most days, it's the Florida of Southern Oregon.
It's an unincorporated community in the Evans Valley area, north of Rogue River. For over the last one hundred plus years, Wimer has attracted a wide variety of people: Lumberjacks, prospectors and settlers to out of state retirees, cannabis farmers, hippies, sovereign citizens and oh so many others. The local community social media platforms are filled with people complaining about speeding and tailgating or upset about gunshots and tannerite devices being set off.
And, you'll find people online vigorously supporting those aforementioned activities.
Wimer has problems with drugs. Crime. Child and spousal abuse. Murder.
Especially murder.
Especially the Pig Farm Killer AKA Susan Monica.
In January 2014, Wimer residents and those in nearby Rogue River were shocked to discover that one of their own had some grisly secrets. That's when Susan Monica, then 65, an eccentric woman who sometimes kept to herself and was rumored of having a volatile temper, was arrested for double homicide. According to information from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, was Monica was born on July 8, 1948 as Steven Buchanan and enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
Following an honorable discharge, she began living as a woman, calling herself Susan Monica. She would eventually leave California, moving to the Wimer area.
According to Jackson Co. Sheriff's Office (JCSO) Det. Julie Denney, Monica's arrest came after deputies discovered human remains on her 20-acre ranch located at 9184 West Evans Creek Road. Initially, Monica was arrested earlier that day, Jan. 10, for theft and identity theft.
That all changed after the deputies' discovery at her ranch.
Denney stated that on Jan. 1, the family of Robert Haney contacted the JCSO to file a missing person's report. Haney's family were concerned for some time: They hadn't seen or heard from Haney for a number of months. Denney said that in such cases, any bank or special accounts in the person's name are checked.
In this case, it was Haney's Oregon Trail EBT card. Detectives found that it was still active, albeit in Monica's possession. While she was questioned, deputies went to the ranch. At some point in their search, Denney said deputies made the grisly discovery: The remains of two human bodies in a pigpen. One of them, Denney told local media, was believed to be Haney's.
“Deputy Medical Examiner Eric Fox is still trying to determine (the corpse's) identity, but, we're fairly confident that the body is Robert Haney.” She added that Haney was allegedly murdered on or about Sept. 9, 2013. The other victim is believed to have been killed on or about Aug. 1, 2012.
Oregon State Police (OSP) criminalists later identified the other victim’s remains as being Stephen Frank Delicino, 59, who lived along the 7000 block of Pleasant Creek Rd. in Wimer. Like Haney, he had family living in the area and despite being missing for nearly two years, no one filed a missing person's report.
JCSO investigators and other law enforcement agencies quickly descended upon Monica's ranch, including the OSP's mobile forensics unit. Even before that happened, the rumors started.
Again, both Wimer and Rogue River are small communities and it didn't take long for gossip to stir up some hysteria. For Bill Fuller, who had been Evans Valley Fire District 6 chief at the time, it was bewildering.
“I've known Susan for some time,” he said. “She did some work for us on the fire station. She did a lot of work for people in the area.”
White Queen Construction. That was Monica's company. She was known for her metalworking and many still say she was very good at it. While in the Navy, she had been trained as a welder. She did a lot of work for people in the area; her 20-acre property was a like a compound, with a barn, outbuildings and a few vehicles. There was a camper trailer on the property -- that's where those who worked for her lived. According to some, she wanted to build an underground home.
"It was going to be like a bunker," one person said.
Monica was two inches shy of six feet tall and often wore overalls, a jacket and a hat. While some described her as being soft-spoken, she could be an imposing figure. She was often bald and it was rumored that it was cancer. During her early court appearances, Monica wore a wig; a stylist reportedly came in to improve her appearance for the trial.
It was a common sight, Monica driving around her beat up pickup, with two men -- her hired help.
She lived in the barn and shared it with the pigs. Her metal shop was located there as well. Someone once described it as "one hell of a mess."
Fuller said that the murder allegations had caught him off guard. “Everyone in Wimer has been talking about it,” he said. “A number of people are shocked. I never felt threatened by her and I know of others who felt that way. Still, the rumors are flying all over the place.”
Some of the rumors were:
A human skull was found in a pigpen.
The two dead men were fed to pigs.
In a fit of anger over money, Monica fired a gun at somebody.
Monica reportedly shot and killed a roommate's pet dog, then fed it to the pigs.
Monica was originally a man and had an operation.
Monica was a drag queen – and that's how her business name, “White Queen,” came about.
Due to lack of evidence, Monica has been released from jail.
And, outrageously, that more than 30 Hispanic workers have disappeared over the years, all of them falling victim to Monica and her pigs.
At the time, there were rumors of a serial killer stalking transients across the California border in Siskiyou County. Local Internet detectives claimed Monica was behind them too -- despite the fact Californian authorities denied the serial killer story. And, many claimed the cops would find mass graves, filled with Monica's unfortunate victims.
“I look at it this way,” Fuller said, “we really don't know what happened out there. We don't know how those men died. I haven't seen the autopsy and I bet a lot of these people behind the rumors haven't seen the autopsy either. And, if they found more bodies – then the charges would have reflected that.”
Fuller said that he doesn't like seeing a person being tried by rumor or public opinion. “Innocent until proven guilty. That's how it's suppose to be,” he said. “That's how I'm looking at it.”
However, he also sees the point of view of the families involved.
“I understand their side, too. Speaking as a parent, if I had a kid involved in something like this,” he said, “I would hope that the police and the courts would do their very best to resolve it. Do I feel sorry for everyone involved? Yeah, I do.”
Fuller said he listened to the rumors but knew that the truth would eventually come out. “One way or another, it'll come out in court,” he said. “It may take months but I feel that the truth will come out. Meantime, people in Wimer want this to go away – I know some of them do. But, I don't think it'll be that easy.”
She pleaded not guilty to a pair of murder charges and first-degree corpse abuse counts during a Jan. 21 televised court appearance. Against the judge’s – and her attorneys’ – wishes, Monica made a statement, in which she asked that someone would donate money to have all of her hogs slaughtered and the meat donated to the Rogue River Community Center.
Monica was known to donate her pigs to local food banks. That rattled many in the area. As Ken Goddard, director of the world's only wildlife forensics lab located in Ashland, Ore., said, "Pigs are like humans. When they eat something, it's broken down into protein. Protein is protein -- we don't have the technology to discern what the protein's source is.
"Besides, pigs eating humans -- well, that's probably the most healthy thing they've ever eaten."
Monica's animals were later euthanized. And, some have said the pigs were in such poor shape that the food banks never used them.
Deputy District Attorney Allan Smith, Jackson County DA's Office, said that Monica's statements made to investigators were supported by the forensic evidence gathered by law enforcement agencies during their search of Monica’s property, which lasted for a number of weeks. Those statements and the forensic evidence, Smith said, were more than enough to find Monica guilty of murder. He added that both victims were shot in the head. She was charged with:
Count One – Murder of another human being committed on or about Aug. 1, 2012.
Count Two – Murder of another human being committed on or about Sept. 9, 2013.
Count Three – Abuse of a Corpse in the First Degree by mutilating or dismembering a corpse, committed on or about Aug. 1, 2012.
Count Four – Abuse of a Corpse in the First Degree by mutilating or dismembering a corpse, committed on or about Sept. 9, 2013.
Count Five – Identity Theft by unlawfully possessing, with the intent to deceive or defraud, the personal identification of Robert Haney committed on or about Sept. 9, 2013.
Monica was found guilty on all counts on April 21, 2015. The trial lasted six days and the jury's deliberation lasted only an hour. The trial was reported on not only by local and regional media outlets, but even Great Britain's Daily Mail covered it, using a Google Earth map of Monica's ranch property.
During the trial, in between emotional outbursts from Monica, she cross-examined witnesses including Henderson. Christine Herbert was her attorney and Monica clashed with her a number of times.
"That was a mistake," Smith said. "I'll never allow that to happen again."
Facts that came out included:
Monica did shoot Stephen Delicino, 59, in August 2012 and Robert Haney, 56, in September 2013. After which, in both cases, she fed the bodies to her pigs
Monica reportedly told investigators that (Delicino) had died by suicide, shooting himself in the head five times. She later admitted that there had been an argument between her and the victim, which led to a struggle. Monica then shot Delicino in the head, five times with a pistol and used a rifle, shooting him twice.
Jordan Farris, a Jackson County Jail inmate testified on April 20 that Monica had confessed to her that (Monica) had used a shotgun on Haney and then fed him to pigs. During Farris’ birthday, Monica allegedly gave her a birthday card, signed “Happy birthday from the sweetest murderer in Jackson County, Susan Monica.”
At Monica’s ranch property, located at the 9100 block of West Evans Creek Rd., forensic techs, investigators and others spent more than 1,000 hours searching, with more than 135 holes dug throughout the property.
During his testimony, Major Crimes Det. Eric Fox, from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) testified that he found a pile of dirty black trash bags. Checking them, Fox discovered human remains.
Claiming her constitutional rights, Monica has been acting in her own defense, cross-examining investigators and sometimes even being argumentative. She’s also displayed a number of emotional outbursts.
At one point, Monica reportedly maintained that Haney had been attacked by the pigs and she shot him, claiming mercy-killing.
The murders’ details have been described as “grisly and gory,” had a visible impact on victim’s families.
Monica, in interviews with investigators, spoke of joking about feeding people to her pigs. “The joke had become a reality,” she said. Monica also spoke of having mental issues or “the stupid thing in my brain.”
Witnesses haven’t appeared. On April 20, four prosecution witnesses didn’t appear and Judge Tim Barnack eventually shutdown Monday’s proceedings.
JCSO Det. Eric Henderson presented a pair of shotguns Monica had reportedly pawned a few days before her arrest. It hadn’t been determined if either weapon was used on Haney.
Haney’s son, Jesse, told the court that after two months of not hearing from his father, he went to Monica’s property. He had a feeling that something was wrong. “He left behind everything he owned,” he said. “His motorcycle and pickup. His tools. His favorite leather jacket. It just didn’t make any sense. I knew something was wrong.”
Ironically, Monica was the victim of identity theft herself. She was upset about an apparent break-in on her property. Herbert reported Monica’s credit cards and other information had been stolen recently. The JCSO was notified and investigated the case. An arrest was later made.
She was sentenced to 50 years for those crimes and is currently at the Coffee Creek correctional facility near Wilsonville. Given her age, it's likely she will die behind bars.
Almost a year ago, Monica started fighting her conviction. Smith confirmed that Monica had filed for a post-trial conviction motion. “I know that she had a hearing on Aug. 20,” he said. “Another one is scheduled for Sept. 20. I’m not surprised that she’s doing this. It happens often and is one of those last ditch efforts some will try.”
He added that the DA’s Office isn’t involved. "That's the state's Dept. of Justice office, not us. Not our problem."
Law enforcement officers never found more bodies at Monica's ranch. Investigators did look into missing persons cases recorded throughout Jackson County, just in case Monica could have been connected.
"We didn't find anything," a JCSO source said. "We did think about checking Josephine County's cases but the JoCo sheriff's office wasn't able to help us at the time. So, yeah, it's possible more cases are out there."
A friend of Monica's now owns the property. Her legal maneuvers have stalled out. Surprisingly, her life story hasn't popped up as a Lifetime made for TV movie or a docuseries similar to Tiger King. Barring a stroke of luck or a death bed confession from Monica, it's hard to know if any JoCo unsolved missing persons will ever be linked to her.
In time, she might become a local urban legend. Some still believe the rumors and think the cops overlooked some dead bodies on the ranch property. Some think the ghosts of her victims roam the property as well.
Yes, she's known as the Pig Farm Killer on the Internet.
On Aug. 26, 2022, the property was listed for sale with an initial price of $475,000.
For now, the White Queen is in prison and will be there for the rest of her life. Life in Wimer goes on, ever the chaotic soap opera played out via social media.
So it goes.
Until another bizarre homicide happens . . . .
Great article!!!
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