From left: Latanga Watts, Angela Anderson, Tonja Harry and Essie Jackson
Murders of 4 Portland women in 1980s tied to man described by neighbors as unassuming, nice
By Everton Bailey, Jr.
The OregonianLive.com
A Portland man killed two women and two teenagers in the 1980s to conceal that he sexually abused them and then dumped their bodies in a vacant house, a park, along a street and near the Columbia Slough over four years, police said Friday.
They arrested Homer L. Jackson III, 55, at his Northeast Portland home and booked him into the downtown jail on 12 counts of aggravated murder. Jackson has a criminal history that stretches back 30 years, but all for non-violent offenses including burglary and traffic violations.
Neighbors described him as a quiet, nice man who mostly kept to himself in their apartment complex.
"If you saw him, you wouldn't ever think he would be accused of this," said Beverly Jones, who lives underneath Jackson.
Police released few details of the killings, saying they're still investigating the cases and may find other victims.
Three of the women – ages 19, 23 and 29 -- were choked or strangled. It's not clear how the youngest – a 14-year-old girl -- died.
Three of them were killed months apart in 1983 and one in 1987. Their bodies were found in North and Northeast Portland. All were involved in prostitution, police said.
Cold case investigators linked Jackson to the killings through forensic evidence and other information, police said at a news conference to announce his arrest. They worked with the original detectives and others to gather enough evidence to make an arrest.
"To be able to be at this point today where we're actually able to show that one person was responsible for this much tragedy, it's extremely gratifying," said cold case homicide Detective Jim Lawrence.
An indictment alleges Jackson killed Essie Jackson, 23, in March 1983, Tonja Harry, 19, in July 1983, Angela Anderson, 14, in September 1983 and Latanga Watts, 29, in March 1987. Essie Jackson and Homer Jackson are not related.
The women's families are generally relieved to have answers, Lawrence said.
"Some of them are still kind of suspicious that the system is actually going to work for them," he said. "Their overall joy is I think a little bit stilted, but they are still feeling some relief that we've been able to give them some measure of peace."
Police wouldn't say how Jackson knew the women, but spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said the deaths highlight the dangers of sex trafficking.
The three older women were involved in prostitution before their deaths, police said. Anderson had been living in a foster home and friends believed she had been involved in prostitution before she was killed. Essie Jackson was the mother of one child and Watts had three children.
A passerby spotted the body of Essie Jackson while walking along the western edge of Overlook Park in North Portland and looking over an embankment, police said.
She had last been seen more than a month earlier on what is now Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Four months later, two people found Harry facedown in the water near the Columbia Slough in West Delta Park, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She had last been seen the night before on MLK Boulevard just south of Killingsworth Street.
Authorities initially suspected that the deaths of Jackson and Harry were linked to the Green River killer who terrorized Seattle and its south suburbs in the 1980s.
A potential homebuyer discovered Anderson in an upstairs bedroom of a vacant house for sale at 416 N.E. Going St. that fall. The key had been in a lock box on the front door. Anderson had been dead for two weeks, police said.
Watts was found in a grassy area near North Concord Avenue close to the Going Street Pedestrian Bridge. Her body appeared to have been moved by the bridge, police said. She had been seen on MLK Boulevard the night before she was discovered by police.
Court records show that Homer Jackson was convicted in January 1984 on a second-degree burglary charge and sentenced to a year in jail. Since then he has been convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving, unlawful use of a weapon, discharge of a firearm in the city, second-degree criminal mischief, driving while suspended and other traffic violations.
He faces three aggravated murder counts in each of the four killings. The indictment describes different theories of how sexual abuse was involved in the deaths.
His neighbors said he sometimes made pork rinds for the residents at Emerson Plaza, their U-shaped complex tucked off Northeast 13th Avenue, and never had an issue with anyone.
People mostly saw him when he would leave his apartment to go to the grocery store and doctor's appointments with his mother or nephew, they said.
Jones, his neighbor downstairs, sat in her recliner Friday evening with two friends as the TV news mentioned Jackson's arrest. She turned up the volume.
"This is the biggest news we've had happen around here," she said. "It was big and shocking."
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/i..._1980s_ti.html
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