1983 murder case of Washington Co. woman closed after 40 years
By Joanna Wilson
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WASHINGTON COUNTY, Oregon (KPTV) — The Washington County Sheriff’s Office closed a 40-year-old cold case into the death of a Washington County woman after the primary suspect killed himself in February, the office announced on Wednesday.
On the morning of Jan. 2, 1983, sheriff’s deputies responded to the 17300 block of Southwest Rivendell Drive in the Durham neighborhood of then-unincorporated Washington County after the report of a suicide.
When deputies arrived, they found 28-year-old Nancy McEvers with a gunshot wound to her head. Emergency medical responders took her to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police said the woman’s husband, 30-year-old Randal “Randy” McEvers had called 911 and said his wife had shot herself. Randy and Nancy, along with their 1-year-old son, were home alone at the time of the shooting.
When Randy talked to deputies on the scene, he gave two different versions of events that led up to the shooting, and detectives were called in to investigate further. They gathered forensic evidence, an autopsy was conducted, and the gun was tested. Detectives determined the gunshot was not self-inflicted.
In April 1983, Randy refused to cooperate with the investigators, and Aug. 1983, the original investigators suspended the case due to a lack of other leads, and the case became cold.
In August 2022, detectives assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit, who also handle cold case investigations, re-opened the investigation. They interviewed more than 20 additional people, including detectives, deputies, and firefighters who responded to the scene in 1983. The interviews led to numerous new additional items of evidence.
Additionally, detectives reviewed all the evidence and lab results from 1983 that ruled out suicide and determined the results were still accurate and conclusive.
In Jan. 2023, detectives interviewed Randy, then living in Tigard.
After the interview, the case was referred to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office for review. But before a review could happen, police said Randy committed suicide on Feb. 8, 2023.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said cold case into the death of Nancy McEvers was now closed.
Police also said detectives would still like to speak to anyone with information about Randy and Nancy McEvers
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