Husband Held After Wife Found Shot To Death

A California man has been charged with shooting and killing his wife while they were picking mushrooms in the Deschutes National Forest.

Dam Rath, 41, of Yreka, Calif., was arrested Friday by Klamath County sheriff’s deputies after his wife, Trach Sarp, 38, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Witnesses heard arguing before a gunshot at about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Sheriff Carl Burkhart said.

The couple, both Cambodian natives, were camped in a commercial mushroom harvest area in Klamath County, where there had been three other shootings in the past week, said Carrie Sammons, spokeswoman for the Deschutes National Forest.

The other shootings resulted in an attempted murder charge in one case and a charge of recklessly endangering in another.

An investigation is pending in the third shooting, Sammons said.

Matsutake mushroom season opened Sept. 2. Arguments among mushroom pickers have resulted in increased patrols by Oregon State Police and sheriff’s deputies.