Nistasha Tate: Murder of Jimmy Pearson and the $10M Estate Fight

Nistasha Rose Tate is an Oregon woman serving a life sentence for the March 1, 2021 murder of 63-year-old pawn shop owner Jimmy Pearson at his riverfront mansion in Milwaukie, Oregon. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree theft in Clackamas County Circuit Court in December 2021 and must serve at least 25 years before she can petition for parole.¹

The Killing at the Milwaukie Mansion

Pearson owned A-1 Hawk, a chain of pawn shops in the Portland area, and lived alone in a five-bedroom estate on Oak Shore Lane along the Willamette River.² On the morning of March 1, 2021, he was shot once in the back of the head with a .38-caliber firearm in his bedroom. His body was not found until two days later, when an employee came to check on him after he failed to show up for work.³

The home had been ransacked. Court documents state the killing was committed to “conceal the commission or identity of perpetrator of the crime of theft.”³ Investigators later determined that what Tate took was largely costume jewelry.²

How Tate Knew Jimmy Pearson

Tate and Pearson had no prior personal relationship. Pearson had her listed in his phone as “Paris Royal Nitasha,” and text messages showed the two were exchanging money for time together.⁴

Prosecutors said the crime was planned. Shortly before the killing, Tate posted on social media that she was looking for a gun and for help with a “lick,” slang for a big score. Security camera footage from the morning of March 1 showed her arriving at Pearson’s home with a duffel bag and leaving about two hours later after several trips loading bags and boxes into her vehicle.⁴

Deputies had actually stopped Tate near the crime scene on the night of March 1, before Pearson’s body was found. A search of her vehicle turned up items belonging to him.⁵

Flight and Arrest in Florida

After the body was discovered on March 3, investigators quickly turned their attention to Tate, but she had already left Oregon. Working with the U.S. Marshals Service, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office tracked her to North Carolina and then Florida.⁶ On April 12, 2021, the Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested her at a Greyhound bus station in Tampa as she tried to board a bus.⁷ She was held without bail at the Hillsborough County Orient Road Jail pending extradition.⁸

Guilty Plea and Life Sentence

Tate was initially charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.³ On December 16, 2021, she pleaded guilty to reduced charges of second-degree murder and first-degree theft before Clackamas County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Jones. Pearson’s family agreed to the deal on the condition that Tate provide a statement about what happened.⁴

In her statement, Tate claimed the shooting was an accident that happened while she was giving Pearson a massage and a gun went off. Clackamas County Senior Deputy District Attorney Bryan Brock rejected that account, saying it was “not an accident.”⁴

The plea required a life sentence. Under Oregon law, a person convicted of second-degree murder must serve at least 25 years before becoming eligible to petition the State Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision for a rehabilitation hearing, and release then requires a unanimous vote of the board with the prisoner carrying the burden of proving rehabilitation by a preponderance of the evidence.⁹ Judge Jones told Tate she must serve every day of that minimum, putting her first eligibility to seek parole at around age 49, in approximately 2046.¹ She remains incarcerated in the Oregon prison system, and no post-conviction appeals have been reported.⁶

The Unrelated Fight Over Pearson’s $10 Million Estate

Tate had nothing to do with Pearson’s will, but the case drew extra attention because of a separate dispute over his roughly $10 million estate. About eight months before his death, Pearson had disinherited his two daughters and named two retired federal prosecutors, Johnathan Haub and Ken Bauman, as his primary beneficiaries. Haub had prosecuted Pearson for marijuana trafficking in the early 1990s, a case that sent Pearson to federal prison for nearly four years, and the two became friends after Pearson served his time. Bauman had served as Pearson’s legal adviser for years.²

The daughters, Tawnya and Sarah Pearson, challenged the will in Clackamas County probate court, alleging their father had been vulnerable to manipulation. The dispute settled through mediation in October 2021. The daughters received the two A-1 Hawk pawn shops, the bulk of the remaining estate (including proceeds from the sale of the mansion) went into a trust for Pearson’s four grandchildren, and Haub and Bauman each received $75,000.²

1
The Oregonian/OregonLive. Woman Gets Life in Prison in Killing of Portland Pawn Shop Owner
2
The Oregonian/OregonLive. Murdered Milwaukie Pawn Broker Cut Kids Out of Will, Left $10M Estate to Feds Who Sent Him to Prison
3
KOIN. True Crime Series Snapped to Feature 2021 Death of Oregon Businessman
4
Oxygen. Nistasha Tate Fatally Shot and Robbed Jimmy Pearson in Oregon
5
The Oregonian/OregonLive. Vancouver Woman Arrested at Florida Bus Station Accused of Killing Oregon Pawn Shop Owner
6
KATU. Woman Sentenced to Life in Prison After Pleading Guilty to Milwaukie Murder
7
The News Tribune. Vancouver Woman Arrested at Florida Bus Station Accused of Killing Oregon Owner of Pawn Shop Chain
8
KOIN. Woman Wanted for Milwaukie Man’s Murder Arrested in Florida
9
Oregon Legislature. ORS 163.115 – Murder in the Second Degree