Second Strangling Victim Found Along the Freeway
by Andy Pollack and Michael Walden
The second strangling victim in a 24-hour period was found along Interstate 5 near Salem early yesterday. The body of an unidentified man, believed to be between 35 and 40 years old, was found about 4:15 a.m. yesterday lying along the freeway a mile south of Woodburn. Early Thursday morning, the nude body of a young man, believed to be in his early 20s, was found on the northbound Interstate 5 on-ramp at Talbot Road, about 10 miles south of Salem. Both had been strangled, authorities said.
Investigators say the two homicides are not related, but Oregon State Police say they are increasing their night patrols along the freeway to make sure a trend in this type of activity does not develop. Acting District Attorney Charles E. Pritchard said that investigators see no connection between the two incidents. “We’re concluding that because of the way the bodies were found,” Pritchard said. Unlike the nude victim found Thursday morning, the man found near Woodburn was fully clothed, officials said. The victim found near Woodburn also did not have his hands and feet bound, officials said. Sgt. Steve Markovich, of the Oregon State Police, agreed that the two deaths seemed unrelated. A passing motorist discovered the second victim lying on the gravel shoulder of 1-5, police said.
Investigators said they believe that the man may have been hitchhiking at about 2:30 a.m. yesterday near the 1-5 and Market Street interchange in Salem. Markovich said he suspects that robbery was the motive in yesterday’s homicide. Salem Hospital pathologist James Lium, who conducted the autopsy, said the man was strangled with either a rope or cord. Lium said there were no other marks on the man indicating any violence other than the strangling. Police described the man as being about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. Police also said the man had brown hair, a moustache and blue eyes. The man, who was partially bald, was wearing blue jeans, a red short-sleeve shirt and brown lace-up work boots, police said.
Meanwhile, Police continued to investigate Thursday’s homicide. They said they still have no clue to the man’s identity or any details about the strangling. The person who found the body at the Talbot Road on-ramp said he nearly hit the body with his truck early Thursday. “I thought it was a stuffed animal,” said the man, who asked not to be identified. “I swerved to miss it, luckily. I decided to go look at it because there was no traffic on the road.” He drove to the nearby home of Ric Bergey to call police. Bergey said he was asleep when he heard someone banging on his front door. He said he woke up and went to the door to see what the matter was.
The man told him he had found a body and asked Bergey to call the police. Bergey said he called the police at 4 a.m. and then went with the man to wait for police at the scene. Authorities are asking the public for information they can use in piecing together clues in these crimes.
