Inmate Whose Medical Release Was Reversed Dies Of Liver Disease

An Oregon State Penitentiary inmate who had been denied a medical release died Monday at Salem Hospital from complications of liver disease.

Brian Campagne, who was serving a 15-year sentence for kidnapping, rape, sodomy and burglary, was hospitalized Friday following 11 days of care in the penitentiary’s infirmary, the Oregon Department of Corrections said.

Campagne, 45, had been in prison since July 1993.

He was paroled in January under laws governing the release of inmates who are terminally ill or incapacitated, and went to live with his mother at her home in Yachats on the central coast.

But the Oregon Parole Board later reversed its decision and returned Campagne to prison, citing letters he had written to his victim after his conviction.

His release angered residents and Lincoln County officials who were concerned that Campagne, who could walk on his own, was still dangerous and was released into their county without any notification.

Campagne was convicted in 1993 for breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home in Bend and forcing her into a car, where he raped and sodomized her. He led police on a 40-mile chase before being arrested.