Notorious Oregon crimes, solved and unsolved (Portland, Gresham: apartments, violent crime, how much)

[tablemtn]

Last week, law enforcement in Oregon and Canada linked a deceased jailed rapist with five separate murders, including two double-homicides in Lincoln County in 1992 and 1995:

Suspect in Lincoln County deaths may have killed others in Oregon

Those were both "notorious" cases at the time, especially as weeks went by without any suspects or arrests.

It also brought to mind another notorious case from the early 90's, in which the suspect was never arrested - the 1994 triple murder of three women at the Leathers Oil Co. gas station in Gresham, allegedly by a fellow employee:

America's Most Wanted - Tyrom Walter Theis

There are also a few (relatively) recent mass-murders that aren't well-known these days. For instance, the deadliest mass-murder in Portland's modern history resulted from an arson fire at the Pomona Hotel (a flophouse in Old Town) on July 7, 1975, which left 13 dead (some sources erroneously report eight - the initial death toll - or 11, but the final number was 13). An arson set by an 11-year-old boy at the Oakwood Park apartments in Aloha on June 28, 1996 killed eight victims. A mass-shooting in the parking lot of Uncle Albert's bar in Klamath Falls left six dead and two wounded on July 23, 1977.

Which notorious Oregon crimes - solved or unsolved - do you particularly remember?

[Nell Plotts]

The Horman child.

[YellowHorse]

Westley Allan Dodd

He was all over the news when I was a kid, freaked my mom out! We were not allowed to go anywhere by ourselves, we were afraid/suspicious of strangers showing any sort of kindness.
I remember one Christmas, I was about 15 years old, I was watching my siblings (we were sitting in the car right in front of the store, locked doors as instructed) while our parents were doing the Christmas shopping. We were approached by a man wanting to give us money as a good will/Christmas gesture. He asked us to roll down the window just a crack so he could push the money through. With the Westley Allen Dodd crimes just a few years past, and fresh in my mind, I adamantly refused and would not no matter how much he pleaded. He finally left the money under the windshield wiper, said "Merry Christmas" and left. I watched him walk over to his car, get in and drive out of the parking lot. I was still suspicious and was wondering if there was an accomplice watching for an opportunity. My younger sister wanted to get out and get the money and I didn't want her to, but being the headstrong girl she was I felt I had to protect her. I told her I would get it, I waited until there were several people walking nearby before I unlocked the doors and got out to get the money.
My parents were very happy I did what I did, I still wonder to this day if the guy was just spreading Christmas cheer, or had other motives...

[Minervah]

Do nonviolent crimes count? If so we have to mention DB Cooper.

D. B. Cooper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Steve Pickering]

Green River.

[redrebel66]

It certainly is creepy how many [in]famous crazies have come from oregon.

[Minervah]

Tonya Harding's henchman whacking Nancy Kerrigan in the knee to keep her out of the Olympics.

[tablemtn]

Speaking of Tonya Harding, that whole mess erupted not that long after the Bob Packwood scandal. Though a lot of those alleged actions took place in DC rather than Oregon.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Yeah, those were interesting times, with OJ Simpson and the whole Tonya Harding thing.

My inlaws were camping at a central Oregon reservoir (near Bend) back before Tonya got imfamous.

I guess she and Jeff Gillooly were in the space next to them and had some car trouble or something like that and my FIL went over to help.

According to him, they visited their campfire a few evenings and he said that they were one of the nicest young couples he'd ever met.

He said she mentioned she was an ice skater, but he had absolutely no clue as to who she was until the bad happened and he saw her on the news.

To bad it turned out the way it did.



I always think of the Diane Downs story when I think of Oregon crimes.
Also Dayton Leroy Rogers from Stayton.
I also worked at a local company where I found out I was sitting at the same test bench that Jerome Brudos sat at when he worked there.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by tablemtn

It also brought to mind another notorious case from the early 90's, in which the suspect was never arrested - the 1994 triple murder of three women at the Leathers Oil Co. gas station in Gresham, allegedly by a fellow employee:

America's Most Wanted - Tyrom Walter Theis

That most wanted site leaves so many details out of that story. I'm glad they finally tore down that building. There are some memories that need to be erased.