Murder In The Rain

Thirty years ago, a music video hit airwaves that changed how videos could be used for good. Soul Asylum’s choice to use photos of missing children as the backdrop to their song “Runaway Train” did in fact bring children home; in some cases heroically, in some, against the children’s will. Sadly, some were returned home, only to be laid to rest and others yet remain lost. For the next three episod...

There have been many conversations of late discussing systemic issues in our world. While we've given many examples of current issues within the justice system, it is important to look back at the foundation of such a system to understand why it operates the way it does today.  For Portland, the corrupt history of the police bureau and local government is a story that isn't special to our...

The Northons Part 2: “The Perfect Story” In last week’s episode, we explored the background of Christopher and Liysa Northon. If you haven’t listened go check it out because there will be spoilers! On October 9th, 2000, authorities found Chris dead inside his sleeping bag at the campsite he and Liysa had been staying at with their young son Dane. Later that day, Liysa sought out medical help for s...

Part 1: “Who’s the Monster?” Liysa Northon never disputed the fact that she had killed her husband. Truth be told, she informed the police that she may have killed him. But the story that she would go on to tell, would change, like many of the stories told throughout her life. She was adamant she had to kill her husband, if she hadn’t, it would have been her or her son. When Lisya’s case was being...

The Portland metro area has always been the ‘quirky girl’ of American cities. We partake in anything usually deemed ‘weird’ or ‘out of the norm’, and we like it that way. However, that weirdness can often be perceived as a gateway to even more strange and, who knows, maybe even dangerous lifestyles. So, when a young mother in Gresham called 911 after being attacked, her life was dissected and dete...

Part 2: "An Act of Sheer Madness" Before 1970, anyone over the age of twelve could legally purchase dynamite in Oregon. Beginning in 1963 on the University of Oregon Campus and the surrounding area, many many bombs were detonated. Mostly aimed at military buildings off-campus and ROTC buildings, on campus, the bombings didn't slow until the law changed, and almost no one was ever charg...

Part 1: The Maximum Amount Of Damage In Portland, an extortion letter threatening a bombing was received and in the process of being read when said bomb exploded inside a downtown department store. The search for the culprits stretched on for months before an unrelated case of mail fraud led investigators to a known grifter and his accomplice, whom he employed as 'his eyes', due to the lac...

In the early morning hours of January 22nd, 2007 Karen Bodine’s body was discovered by a passerby at the entrance of a gravel pit in Rochester, Washington. Mere hours before, a police officer spoke to Karen and had the opportunity to make sure she got home safely to her family safely, but they didn’t. What happened to Karen Bodine? In this episode of Murder in the Rain, we sit down with Karlee Bod...

For a teen from California, the jarring Alaskan temperatures of late January were unbearable. Luckily, he had three guides there to help him stay warm and to show him the hunting traditions of their ancestors. The day after they began their adventure, the dark figure of the young man was spotted by hunters in a helicopter. Something had happened to his chaperones, and no one, not even the boy knew...

In Oregon's Umpqua National Forest, three officers responded to a report of an unknown party firing on a trailblazing crew, and when they arrived at the hand-built creekside cabin of the man they believed responsible, their suspect's Winchester rifle rang out and one of the officers was shot in the head and killed instantly. The shooter- a nearly-seventy-year-old-recluse, trapper, and gold...

In the early 1980s, several adults came together and formed a “new light” bible study group in Grants Pass, Oregon. This was a group of Seventh-day Adventists who wanted to be more in tune with God. Eventually, the group welcomed sisters Sharon and Deborah Halstead, childhood friends of the leader’s husband who grew up with him in California. What started out as straightforward bible study morphed...

Part 2: “Mental Condition Black” Last week I told you about just a few of the incidents of officer-involved shootings so far this year. The first United States Climate Activist to be killed by authorities, Tyre Nichols, whose death and the subsequent charges to stem from it are being looked at as a blueprint for change. And the three men, Oscar Sanchez, Keenan Anderson, and Takar Smith, who were k...

Part 1 "Who Do You Serve" We had all hoped, perhaps with naive hearts, that the brutal murder of George Floyd, the protests that followed, and the new expectations surrounding inclusion and anti-racism by the ‘woke’ crowd would have meant the killing of Americans, especially of color, by police, would have been lessened if not nearly eradicated. Sadly, predictably, 2022 saw a record number...

Often we hear of mass shooters taking their lives in the wake of a rampage to avoid being killed by cops or going to jail. But far more often, instances of murder-suicide are intimate and personal. In this week’s case, we discuss the murders of Mitra Mehrabadi, James 'JJ' Hurtado, and Lisa Stevie Haynes and the deaths of Jim Morgan, Kenneth Valdez, Jason Huston, and Terry Daniel.  For phot...

On February 18th, 1992, the decomposed body of a man was discovered in the waters near the Black River parkway in Cape Town, South Africa. As the area is rife with gang activity  it was initially theorized that the man was yet another victim of gang gun violence, but they soon discovered he had a very unique wound; a crossbow through his head. Using a new technique  to help identify the body, they...

Today’s case was one that was requested. Unlike most that are sent to us, we received many requests for it to be covered, and for good reason. When Aron left his camping party to go on a solo hike, it was nothing out of the ordinary. His friends started to worry when he wasn’t back in time for dinner, something very out of the ordinary. Things only got worse from there when he and his puppy were f...

There were so many active serial murderers in the Pacific Northwest and their often cross-jurisdictional crimes demanded the development of a system called HITS, designed to make connections between reported crimes, in order to better pinpoint suspects and make arrests. In 1991, this system made a match in Seattle, where HITS was based, to a murder in Portland, Oregon. This link would lead them to...

Part 2: “Screwdriver” In last week’s episode, I introduced you to a man named Dayton Leroy Rogers, who was known by local sex workers as a creepy character they called “Steve the Gambler”; a man who enjoyed bondage had a foot fetish and enjoyed inflicting pain on women. Rogers was arrested for the murder of Jennifer Lisa Smith in the summer of 1987. Shortly after his arrest, while they prepared fo...

Part 1: "Steve the Gambler" Oregon has seen its fair share of serial rapists and killers, but few have gained the term prolific. One, in particular, earned that title in the late 1980s. In today’s case, we discuss the origin story of a man who was known on the streets as “Steve the Gambler”, a man who had a wife and child at home, who owned a successful business, and who cruised the street...

Part 3: “Multnomah County Manson” For the past two weeks, I’ve told you the stories of the Street Kids of Portland that fell prey to the power of The Family- Led by Grant Charboneau and Greg Wilson. They had a hand in the killings of Hal Charbanou, Misty Largo, and Leon Stanton. One of their murderous helpers was James Nelson. While Grant and Greg spent their time behind bars, James finished his,...

Part 2: “Fantastic Army of the Night” Last week I introduced you to Grant Charboneau, Greg Wilson and the Family of street kids they ruled over. They had their own rules and if they were broken, there would be ramifications. Which was what happened to Misty Largo; a teenage girl who was murdered after a brutal 36 hours of torture, brought on after the family decided she was not abiding. Grant, as...

Part 1: "Rambo Games" Homeless rates have skyrocketed across the country over the last few years. But it isn’t anything new. But back in the 1980s there was a new scene brewing in the houseless community- street kids. While many of the street kids of Portland were simply looking for a new home, a new sense of community where they could feel safe away from abusive homes, others were finding...

Part 2: Red Circles Last week I told you the story of Harvey Carignan- a man who took to using a want ad to lure young women into his grasp. Today, I'll be telling you about his continued violence after a move to Minnesota, a series of unsolved murders he was suspected of committing in California, his many trials for his endless crimes and how Harvey, responsible for attacking, raping and kill...

Part 1: Nickel-Sized Holes In 1972, Laura Brock, a college student in Washington, went missing while hitchhiking; her body was found hours later. She had been beaten, raped, and murdered. Eight months later, 15-year-old Kathy Miller got into a stranger's car and vanished. When her plastic-wrapped body was discovered, the beating death she suffered and the circumstances surrounding the murders...

In the 1970 and 80s, a serial rapist plagued Portland, OR and surrounding areas. His modus operandi was that he would jog through neighborhoods in east Portland scouting for potential victims. When he found a young girl or woman that captured his attention, he would watch them, sometimes for days, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When she was alone, he would break in, attack her, hide his...