When Francis Weaver was still in diapers, his grandfather went to prison for murdering a young couple in California.

The year he turned 22, his father went to prison for murdering two girls from his Oregon City neighborhood.

And now, at 31, Francis Paul Weaver is, himself, charged with murder.

Police arrested Weaver and two others in the shooting death of a Grants Pass man Sunday in Canby after what police are calling a drug deal turned deadly. He was arraigned Tuesday in Clackamas County Circuit Court and is being held without bail in the county jail.

Criminologists often see families that display antisocial behavior in both the parents and their children. But in the Weaver family, violence, cruelty and rage have bubbled to the surface for at least four generations.

"When I was a police officer, there were some families known to all officers because of their involvement in crime," said

, professor emerita at Portland State University's Division of Criminology and Criminal Justice. "But I think it's very rare to have two generations of murderers and another generation accused of murder."

Jolin, who holds a doctorate in urban studies and criminology, said current theories largely discount genetic predisposition toward crime, the old "feeblemindedness" or "bad seed" causes. But she said growing up in household without solid education, caring or good examples can bring out the worst in a child.

If that's the case, Francis Weaver was dealt a difficult hand to play, learning to navigate a cauldron of violence.

Francis Paul Weaver (from left), Ward Weaver III and Ward Weaver Jr.

He first caught the attention of Portland-area media when his father, Ward Francis Weaver III, became the focus of an investigation into the mysterious disappearances of 13-year-old Ashley Pond and 12-year-old Miranda Gaddis. At the time, Francis put on a personable face and defended his father to reporters.

"When I first met him in July 2002, I liked him," said Janine Robben, a Portland attorney and journalist who teaches First Amendment law at Washington State University-Vancouver. "He was very defensive of his father. He said it was very inappropriate to assume that because his father was a killer because his grandfather was a killer. He was not happy with the investigation."

At the same time, he introduced his girlfriend to Robben as "the love of my life."

The following month, Ward Weaver tried to rape his son's girlfriend, snapping the already-brittle father-son relationship.

"I kept wondering which teen-aged girl would go to Ward Weaver's house, when everyone was focusing on him," said Robben. "Then it dawned on me – it had to be Francis' girlfriend."

When she called on Francis Weaver, he was short with her tried to close the door as quickly as possible. But Robben saw his girlfriend standing behind him.

"I knew right away that she was the one," Robben said. "I could see the bruises on her neck."

Meanwhile, Francis Weaver told police that his father had confessed to killing the girls, pushing the investigation to a quick conclusion. Armed with search warrants, FBI agents found Miranda Gaddis' remains in a storage shed. Ashley Pond's remains turned up under a concrete slab.

Ward Weaver subsequently was charged with aggravated murder, attempted rape, abuse of a corpse and sexual abuse. He pleaded guilty in a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole. Now 50, he is being held in the medium-security

in Umatilla.

Exhaustive DNA investigations during that case also brought something else to light – Francis Weaver is not Ward Weaver III's biological son, though both previously believed he was. Regardless, Francis Weaver was raised by Ward Weaver and grew up calling him "Dad."

Maria Shaw, Francis Weaver's mother, who eventually divorced Ward Weaver III in the 1990s, told The Associated Press Wednesday that her son had nothing to do with the Canby slaying. "He's not guilty," she said. "They want (to arrest) him so bad because they think he's Ward Weaver's son."

When Francis Weaver's father was convicted, his grandfather, Ward Francis Weaver Jr., already was a fixture on Death Row in California after he was found guilty of murdering an 18-year-old Air Force recruit and his fiancée.

A long-haul trucker, Ward Weaver Jr. picked up the couple in late 1981 near the Mojave Desert, then beat the man to death with a length of pipe, according to court records. He then took the young woman on the road with him, raping her again and again. When she resisted, he strangled her to death.

Then, in a precursor to his son's actions, buried his victim under a concrete slab behind his home, this one in Oroville, Calif.

Ward Weaver Jr. was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to death in the state's gas chamber. But he has filed a torrent of appeals that have delayed the process. Now 70, he currently has a 357-page appeal on 27 grounds pending before the U.S. District Court in Fresno, Calif. Meanwhile, he is being held in

.

During his trial, prosecutor Ron Shumaker cited testimony from a witness who said Ward Weaver Jr.'s mother gave the first hint of family troubles. The witness said

and once, brandishing a butcher knife, declared that she wanted to "cut off all of their penises."

Compared to his father and grandfather, Francis Weaver has kept a relatively low profile until recently.

After family turmoil in Oregon, he moved to Shoshone, Idaho, to live with Ward Weaver III's half-brother, Rodney Weaver. But it didn't stop the problems.

In 1998, Francis Weaver was suspended from school in Shoshone, Idaho, for choking another student.

The following year, he was charged with aggravated assault after firing a rifle into a truck full of teens in Shoshone, wounding his best friend. He was sentenced to 180 days in a juvenile detention center, but was released after serving about a month.

In 2005, Francis Weaver was charged with breaking into a Southeast Portland home, holding the residents hostage and then robbing them. He was subsequently acquitted by a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury.

Then on Sunday, Canby police and firefighters came across a puzzling scene, finding Edward Kelly Spangler of Grants Pass lying outside his Hyundai SUV in Locust City Park. It was obvious that he had crashed the vehicle into a tree. But it wasn't until they examined him closely that they found he had suffered "multiple" gunshot wounds.

Spangler, 43, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Working with the Clackamas County Major Crimes Unit, police then traced Spangler's path to a nearby apartment complex for which they obtained search warrants. They soon arrested 27-year-old Michael Arlan Orren, who admitted that he shot Spangler twice in the head, according to court documents.

Police also arrested Francis Weaver at the Canby apartment complex, initially charging him with robbery.

Meanwhile, Orren reportedly told police where they could find an accomplice, 32-year-old Shannon Bettencourt. A Portland Police Bureau SERT team served a search warrant Monday at a home in the 7800 block of Southeast 92nd Avenue in Portland, where Bettencourt was arrested.

According to court documents, police believe Weaver, Orren and Bettencourt stalked Spangler, planning to steal 15 pounds of marijuana Spangler brought from Southern Oregon for a cash exchange. But the robbery didn't go smoothly, and they killed Spangler, documents say.

On Tuesday, after a round of interviews, authorities filed a new charge against Francis Weaver – murder.

Janine Robben, who is writing a book about the Ward Weaver III case, said she was saddened to hear that the young man who touched her with sincerity of his love for his girlfriend now is facing the same charges that put away his father and grandfather.

"It's still sad," she said, sighing. "What else can you say?"

-- Rick Bella