Tacoma Notifies Task Force Of Murder

Sat., Aug. 22, 1998

By Adam Lynn adaml@spokesman.com

Tacoma authorities say they have notified Spokane’s serial killer task force about the murder of a woman whose body was found there Friday.

The 21-year-old victim was shot in the head and dumped near an area of Tacoma known for its prostitution trade, said Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. Her identity has not been released.

While Tacoma detectives don’t think the killing is related to Spokane’s serial murders, they called the task force just in case, Troyer said.

“We’re not ruling it out,” he said. “But we’re going in a different direction, at least for the next couple of days.”

Spokane officials said they would monitor the case.

Troyer said Tacoma detectives have some “people of interest” in the woman’s death and searched a house there Friday looking for clues.

The Spokane task force is investigating the unsolved murders of more than 20 women since 1984. It has tied eight of the murders - seven in Spokane and one in Tacoma - to the same killer or killers.

Most of the serial killer victims worked as prostitutes, used illegal drugs or both.

The latest victim, 47-year-old Michelyn Derning, was found in a vacant lot in East Spokane last month.

A Spokane woman who fits the profile of the serial killer victims is still missing. Melody Ann Murfin, 43, hasn’t been seen since May.

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