Daniel Ray Peck stands next to his attorney, Gerald Petersen of Corvallis, in court Thursday morning for his first appearance on charges stemming from the death of John Francis Hildebrand Tuesday. He appeared in the courtroom of Judge Richard Barron. World Photo by Lou Sennick

A Hauser man found murdered Tuesday is believed to have first been the victim of a carjacking, according to the Coos County District Attorney's Office.

”I have classified it as a carjacking and I will stand by that,“ said District Attorney Paul Burgett, adding that a carjacking is a robbery in which one person takes someone else's vehicle by force.

On Tuesday evening, Daniel Ray Peck, 40, of Coos Bay, was arrested in connection with the crimes. Police found him near the body of John F. Hildebrand, 67, a Hauser man who had recently moved to the area from California.

Peck was arraigned in Coos County Circuit Court Thursday morning and was charged with one count of aggravated murder - a capital offense that can be subject to the death penalty - and one count each of murder, felony murder and first-degree robbery.

Police said they located Peck about 30 feet north of TransPacific Parkway amongst sand and beach grass. Hildebrand's body was 6 feet away. At the scene, there appeared to be a shallow grave.

A search for the two had begun Tuesday afternoon after an assault was reported at the Wagon Wheel Grocery Store in Hauser. An emergency caller reported that a man had assaulted another man, loaded him into a white Ford pickup truck and drove off. A reserve deputy later found the empty truck parked about one mile southwest of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management boat ramp near where TransPacific Parkway dead-ends.

According to state court records, Peck has been convicted of 21 crimes in Coos County dating back to the mid-1980s. Twelve of the convictions were from either felony or misdemeanor charges of driving while suspended or while revoked. Peck also has two driving while intoxicated convictions, three assault convictions, including a misdemeanor conviction of assaulting a public safety officer.

Peck has served time in both the Coos County jail and several state prisons including the former Oregon Correction Intake Center in Oregon City, Shutter Creek Correctional Institution in Hauser and three prisons in Salem - Santiam Correctional Institution, Oregon State Correctional Institution and the Oregon State Penitentiary.

He's been on and off probation or parole numerous times since the 1980s.

In addition to the murder and robbery charges Peck is facing, he also faces a charge of felony coercion and misdemeanor charges of menacing and strangulation stemming from a Sept. 11 domestic violence incident.

Peck has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Burgett said after discussions with Chief Deputy District Attorney R. Paul Frasier Thursday, the DA's office is mulling whether to add another charge related to the carjacking

”We are contemplating putting kidnapping in there also,“ Burgett said. ”There is a good possibility of that.“

Burgett said the seven-member grand jury will convene Monday afternoon to consider the facts and evidence presented thus far in the case. The grand jury will ”make the determination if Mr. Peck should be charged, and if so, with what,“ Burgett said.

The DA's office has not decided if it will seek the death penalty in the case, Burgett said.

”We're not going to make a decision on whether we are going to do the death penalty until we have all the police reports in on the case and have had a chance to analyze everything,“ he said.

Burgett said a number of different police officers who responded to the scene are completing reports from Tuesday's incident. In addition, investigators also are looking into Peck's background.

An autopsy was performed Thursday on Hildebrand's body, but Burgett said he had not seen the results by press time.

”We don't have a concrete cause of death from the doctor,“ Burgett said, adding that should be available this afternoon.