Unsolved, but not forgotten

Eight of 10 cases chosen for review have East County ties

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Mar 3, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jim Clark / Gresham Outlook

staff photo by JIM CLARK Jean Sorlien, whose aunt, Eunice Karr, was murdered, listens as her husband, Peter, talks with reporters at Monday's press conference where the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office announced the reopening of several cold cases.

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Every July is a trauma for Jean and Peter Sorlien of Fairview.

Twenty-five years ago this summer, Jean’s aunt Eunice Karr was murdered in her Parkrose home on July 28, 1984. The killer has never been caught.

Jean and her husband are hopeful for some justice and closure now that Karr’s murder has been assigned to a group of detectives dedicated to investigating unsolved murders.

Late last year, Multnomah County Sheriff Bob Skipper swore in eight retired investigators to reopen 35 cases that have grown cold due to a lack of leads. Since then, the volunteers have teamed to pore over cases and have identified 10 — eight of which have direct ties to East Multnomah County — as having the most promise given advances in DNA analysis. Of those, six cases have evidence such as cigarette butts and beer bottles resubmitted to the Oregon State Crime Lab for analysis, said Capt. Monte Reiser, head of the sheriff’s office investigation division.

“But not every case is gonna be solved in a science lab,” said Rod Underhill, one of two Multnomah County deputy district attorneys who will be prosecuting the cases. Boots on the ground and good old-fashioned detective work are just as important, he said.

The investigators have more than 250 years of law enforcement experience combined and in many instances were involved in the original investigations.

The group meets for four hours every Tuesday and Thursday in the sheriff’s Hansen Building office off Northeast 122nd Avenue and Glisan Street. Investigators are paired up to review cases, which includes going through thick binders of reports, interviews and photos. The work can be painfully slow. One case took 40 hours to review, said Deputy Paul McRedmond, a sheriff’s office spokesman.

Not only do fresh eyes sometimes serve as an advantage, but so can time. Relationships change — a suspect’s girlfriend may no longer be afraid to talk to investigators since a long ago break-up. People grow older, wiser and might want to clear their conscience.

With that in mind, investigators held a press conference Monday, March 2, to appeal to the public for help with the cases.

Eunice Karr’s niece is thrilled her aunt’s case is being looked at again and hopes someone knows something about what happened to her.

“Maybe there’s something in their conscience they’d like to set free,” said Peter, Karr’s nephew-in-law.

Karr was a kind religious woman who liked to garden, crochet and watch birds, they said.

Her family has no idea who would want to kill her or why. They don’t even know how she died. That detail has been withheld to maintain the integrity of the investigation.

What they do know is that whoever killed Karr could kill again.

“And they deserve to be brought to justice,” Peter said.

Tips needed

• Details about each of the 10 priority cases are on the sheriff’s office Web site at www.mcso.us/public/coldcase.htm.

• Tips, no matter how seemingly insignificant, also can be reported to the cold case unit at 503-251-2449 or the tipline at 503-251-2404. E-mail addresses for investigators also are available on the Web site.

Unsolved murder bios

Eunice B. Karr, 74 — She was found killed in her Parkrose house in the 4700 block of Northeast 100th Avenue on July 28, 1984. Detectives hope to find out the identity of a young woman seen with Karr between 3-7 p.m. July 27, 1984, near Northeast 100th Avenue and Wygant Street.

Daniel F. Snedeker, 30 — Was shot and killed during the evening of Nov. 12, 1980, as he sat in the driver’s seat of his Buick Rivera in the parking lot of his apartment complex in the 100 block of Southeast 162nd Avenue in Gresham. He lived with his girlfriend, served time in prison and went through a drug rehabilitation program.

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