Gresham man found guilty for trying to kill ex-partner he abused

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Gresham man was convicted for physically and sexually abusing his long-term partner for several years, gathering weapons to kill her, as well as attaching tracking devices to her vehicle once she obtained a restraining order.

Beginning in Dec. 2020, Multnomah County court documents describe 40-year-old Michael Panarites repeatedly forcing the woman – and mother of his young child – to have sex with him stating, “it was her duty and obligation to provide him with sex when he wanted it” and that “no one was coming to save her.”

Another disturbing instance describes Panarites restraining the woman, throwing her on their bed, punching, kicking and stomping on her “too many times to count.” He then hit her “so hard in the face she could not eat for days” and “stomped on her leg so hard he bent the metal bed frame.”

In July 2022, the woman reported the abuse to police and was granted a restraining order against Panarites the next day.

Over the following months, court documents state Panarites tried separately to get his parents to assist in finding and killing the woman. Since he could not buy a firearm, Panarites also purchased a crossbow and practiced with it daily. The documents add Panarites’ father was so disturbed by his son’s plans that he cut off contact.

When police found Panarites violated his restraining order in March 2023, he ran away to Sacramento. But after being arrested there on an unrelated charge and put on supervised release, he cut off his GPS monitor and fled back to Oregon.

A month later, the woman reported to police that she’d found GPS tracking devices on her car four separate times. Police managed to trace the purchase information back to Panarites’ email on May 26, 2023.

Three days later, Panarites was taken into custody after being caught driving a stolen vehicle. After searching the car, police found a loaded Glock 17 and magazines (over 100 rounds of ammunition) and a crossbow with arrows.

On Thursday, a Multnomah County jury found Panarites guilty on 25 counts, including second-degree attempted murder, solicitation of murder, stalking, unlawful possession of a firearm (2 counts), felony unlawful use of a GPS device (6 counts) and others.

Panarites remains in custody pending his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for March 27.

He faces a minimum of 25 years.