Task Force E Portland Death Serial Killer Investigators Say Connection Uncertain

Thu., July 16, 1998

By Adam Lynn adaml@spokesman.com

The slaying of a woman in Portland has drawn the attention of authorities investigating a series of Spokane killings.

Detectives from Spokane’s serial killer task force have talked to Oregon investigators about the death of an unidentified woman found Tuesday in a Portland park.

Portland authorities said the woman had been shot in the head and abandoned in some brush not far from a jogging trail on the city’s southwest side.

They don’t know her name or age. An autopsy was performed Wednesday. Portland authorities said that she has a tattoo that says “Brandi.”

Spokane County Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Silver said Wednesday that early indications suggest the woman’s death is not related to the murders of eight women attributed to Spokane’s serial killer.

“At this point, there are enough dissimilarities that it doesn’t look like it’s connected,” Silver said. “We’re not jumping on a plane and going down there or anything.”

That might change after Oregon officials determine who the woman was and learn other details about her death.

“We will continue to keep in contact with them,” Silver said. “If it turns out to be Melody Murfin or somebody else from Spokane, we will jump on a plane and go right down there.”

Murfin hasn’t been seen by friends or relatives in Spokane for two months.

The 43-year-old woman fits the profile of the victims of Spokane’s serial killer, and local authorities fear for her safety.

Since last November, seven women in Spokane and one in Tacoma have been killed and their bodies dumped in out-of-the-way areas.

Detectives believe one killer or set of killers is responsible for all the deaths.

All the victims lived what authorities call a “high risk” lifestyle, either working as prostitutes, using illicit drugs or both.

Most of them had been shot and their bodies partially buried under debris.

LATEST SPOKANE VICTIM The latest victim was 47-year-old Michelyn Derning, whose naked corpse was discovered in east Spokane on July 7. Anyone with information on the cases is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

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