The man accused of killing a Salem mother and her toddler son will no longer face the death penalty under a Yamhill County Court ruling issued Monday.

The lone aggravated murder charge against Michael John Wolfe was dismissed by Judge Cynthia Easterday after his attorneys argued over the constitutionality of the charge.

The argument came in the wake of a law passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2019 that restricted what crimes could be considered aggravated murder — the only crime that carries the death penalty in Oregon.

© ANNA REED / STATESMAN JOURNAL Michael Wolfe, 52, appears in court as attorneys argue for dismissing an aggravated murder charge for allegedly murdering 3-year-old William "Billy" Fretwell, his biological son. Photographed at the Yamhill County Courthouse in McMinnville on Dec. 27, 2019. Wolfe is accused of murdering Karissa Fretwell, a Salem mother and her toddler son in May.

Wolfe, 52, of Gaston, was initially charged with two counts of aggravated murder after Karissa Fretwell, 25, and William "Billy" Fretwell, 3, vanished from their West Salem apartment in May 2019.

Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry announced the state would seek the death penalty.

Berry said Tuesday he has contacted the Oregon Department of Justice to appeal Easterday's ruling. If the appeal goes to the Oregon Supreme Court, it could delay the criminal case.

The aggravated murder charge for Karissa's death was dismissed and replaced with counts of first-degree murder and first-degree murder constituting domestic violence after Senate Bill 1013 became law last year.

Previously, about 20 circumstances made a homicide qualify as aggravated murder, including murder for hire, murdering multiple people, torturing before killing, the murder of a child and murder during the course of a felony crime.

With SB 1013, Oregon legislators voted to limit aggravating circumstances to only four:

Terrorist killings of two or more people

The premeditated murder of police officers

Murder committed in a prison or jail by someone who was already convicted of murder

The premeditated murder of a child under the age of 14

The dismissal of the first aggravated murder charge meant Wolfe could not face the death penalty if convicted of killing Karissa.

But the threat of death row remained on the table if a jury convicted Wolfe of killing Billy, his biological son.

Fretwell died from gunshot

After Karissa and Billy were reported missing on May 17, Wolfe became a key person of interest in their disappearance.

Karissa, who lived in West Salem, worked as a security guard and was studying to become a teacher at Western Oregon University. She had full custody of Billy.

Detectives said records from her phone indicate she and Wolfe were together overnight May 13.

Karissa had recently taken Wolfe, her former co-worker, to court over child support. She had once worked as a security guard at Cascade Steel Rolling Mills in McMinnville, where the married Wolfe worked as a supervisor.

When contacted by investigators, Wolfe told police the child support hearing "did not go well" and he was ordered to pay $900 dollars a month.

Timeline: The disappearance of Karissa, William Fretwell

Wolfe also disappeared briefly, and Salem police listed him as a wanted man and searched his rural home in Gaston and another property near Hopewell.

Wolfe was taken into custody May 24 at a gourmet Portland donut shop.

© Salem Police Department Karissa Alyn Fretwell, 25 of Salem, and her three-year-old son, William (Billy) Fretwell.

Karissa's and Billy's bodies were discovered June 15 in a heavily-wooded area in Yamhill County.

Karissa's cause of death was determined to be from a single gunshot wound to the head. Billy's cause of death has not been released.

Defense attorney Dianna Gentry's first motion to dismiss the aggravated murder charge for Billy's death argued that it violated current law violated state and federal ex post facto laws.

An ex post facto law is a law that retroactively changes the punishment actions committed before the enactment of the law.

Dismissal of charge debated

Judge Easterday heard arguments on the motion in December and issued an opinion a month later saying the charge did not violate ex post facto law.

Wolfe's defense team resubmitted a motion to dismiss citing a different aspect of SB 1013, which eliminated a portion of the previous aggravated murder law that required prosecutors to prove a defendant's "future dangerousness" of committing future crimes in order to obtain a death sentence.

Previously, in order to obtain a death sentence, 12 jurors would have to answer yes to the following questions:

Was the murder committed deliberately? Was the killing unreasonable in response to the provocation, if any, by the deceased? Is there a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence and be a continuing threat to society? Considering all mitigating and aggravating circumstances, should the defendant receive a death sentence?

The elimination of the "future dangerousness" question means "the state can now obtain a sentence of death without any burden to prove the probability of criminal acts and violence," Gentry said in the motion.

Prosecuting Wolfe for aggravated murder after the removal of this question violates ex post facto laws in the state and federal constitution, she said.

Support local journalism: Get the latest on crime and criminal justice news. Become a Statesman Journal subscriber and get unlimited digital access to stories that matter.

Prosecutor Kathryn Lynch conceded that sentencing Wolfe pursuant to SB 1013 would violate ex post facto law but argued that dismissal of the charge was not the appropriate remedy.

She said the state would agree to sentence Wolfe under the previous version of the aggravated murder law.

Gentry countered that SB 1013 applies retroactively to crimes committed before the bill's effective date of Sept. 29, 2019.

The issue of "retroactively" almost led to the unraveling of SB 1013 after reports emerged in the weeks before its effective date that the law would apply to pending cases and current death row convictions if they were overturned.

According to prosecutors, most of the people on death row would not qualify for the death penalty if tried again on the new SB 1013 standards.

After the potential impact of the bill came to light, Gov. Kate Brown and several lawmakers who supported SB 1013 said this change to pending cases was not the intention of the bill and called for a special session to fix the language.

"From my perspective, given the seriousness of the issues that we are dealing with and the impact on victims and families, I think it's critically important that there be clarity about the law and in particular this law," Brown said during a conference call with reporters.

Marion County cases reduced

Oregon has not had an execution since 1997, and all potential executions have been subject to a moratorium put in place in 2011 by then-Gov. John Kitzhaber.

After taking office, Brown upheld the moratorium and made her personal opposition to the death penalty clear.

Efforts to hold a special session to better clarify the new aggravated murder law fizzled after failing to get enough support in the Oregon House of Representatives.

The law then went into effect, and its impact quickly became apparent as multiple aggravated murder cases were reduced statewide.

Previous coverage: Will those on Oregon's death row stay there with changes to state's aggravated murder law?

All open aggravated murder cases in Marion County, including one involving the murder of a 12-year-old boy, were reduced, or are expected to be reduced, in the wake of the law's passage.

Several other pending aggravated murder cases across the state, like Jeremy Christian MAX stabbing case in Portland, were reduced to first-degree murder.

After prosecutors and Wolfe's defense team met Monday, Judge Easterday granted the defense's motion to dismiss the aggravated murder charge against Wolfe.

First-degree murder carries a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. But the court may sentence a murderer to life without the possibility of parole if the judge states the reasons for imposing a true life sentence.

Wolfe's next hearing is scheduled for May 4 at 2:30 p.m.

He remains in Yamhill County Jail, where he is being held without bail.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Court rules no death penalty for man accused of killing Karissa Fretwell, toddler son