After 36 years, accused killer in Oregon cold case to stand trial
By Tim Steele,
2 hours ago
Video above: KOIN covers a break in Deborah Lee Atrops’ murder.
PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — November 29, 1988 was a Tuesday, just weeks after George H.W. Bush was elected president to succeed Ronald Reagan.
On that particular night, Deborah Lee Atrops was supposed to pick up her 8-month-old daughter from her estranged husband’s residence in Sherwood, Oregon, about 16 miles southwest of Portland.
When she didn’t arrive at the agreed-upon time between 7:30 and 8 p.m., her husband Robert filed a missing person report.
Investigators said the position of her body inside the trunk indicated she was put there after she was killed. Witnesses said they noticed the car there early in the day on November 30.
Deborah Lee Atrops, seen in an undated photo, was 30 when she was killed November 29, 1988. Her body was found in the trunk of this Honda Accord (KOIN file)
A few days later, an autopsy revealed Deborah Atrops was physically assaulted and strangled to death. She was 30.
Then, the case went cold.
Investigators looked again
In May 2021, the Washington County Cold Case Unit partnered with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to reinterview witnesses and reexamine forensic evidence in the case.
Robert Atrops, accused of killing his wife Deborah in 1988, was indicted in March 2023 (KOIN)
Atrops is nearly 70 now. His trial began on Tuesday.
The initial federal funds to create the Washington County unit and cover the work of detectives and researchers were received in 2020. The grant funds through the U.S. Department of Justice prioritize prosecuting felony-level cases with the help of DNA as technology becomes more advanced.
Robert Atrops was the first person arrested as a result of this cold case unit funding.
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