NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Friday, November 3, 2017
Persistence leads to solving 1979 case of teen’s slaying
held accountable.”
The investigators learned that
Dunlap had been convicted in
1996 of first-degree sex abuse of a
family member and was sentenced
to prison. The officers credited the
victim of that crime with coming
forward, because if she hadn’t,
Dunlap wouldn’t have gone to
prison and his DNA wouldn’t have
been in the database, meaning
Janie’s murder would never have
been solved. Dunlap had also been
convicted of rape in Tennessee in
1961 and sentenced to 99 years in
prison. But he was paroled in 1973.
The investigators learned that
Dunlap had died behind bars in
2002, depriving Landers’ family
of seeing him brought to justice for
Janie’s murder.
For Hooper, who was five years
younger than Janie and is now 52,
that’s not the most important aspect.
“Final closure would have been
seeing him convicted of her murder.
But how I try to look at is: he died
in prison. He wasn’t out there hurting
anyone else,” Hooper said in a
telephone interview from Coos Bay,
Oregon, where she grew up and still
lives.
What really matters to Hooper is
Hinkle’s persistence.
“I will be forever grateful to him,”
Hooper said. “He stuck with it. Any
changes or actions in the case, he
kept me informed. He stuck with
her case and believed that something
was there that could help solve it.”
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — The persistence of a
detective and the sister of a young
woman who was stabbed and beaten
has solved a murder in Oregon — 38
years after it happened.
On March 9, 1979, Janie Landers
disappeared outside the Fairview
Training Center for the develop-
mentally disabled where she lived in
Salem. Five days later, the 18-year-
old’s body was discovered in a
remote field, with deep stab wounds
in her neck and her head bashed.
Witnesses had seen Janie, who
functioned at about the level of an
8-year-old child and stood just 5 feet,
1 inch tall and weighed 105 pounds,
get into a stranger’s car. The police
questioned several people, but all
their leads turned into dead ends.
As the years passed, Janie’s
younger sister, Joyce Hooper, kept
pushing the authorities to solve the
crime. In 2001, a retired Oregon
State Police detective was assigned
the case, but had no better luck than
previous investigators.
In March 2015, the 36th anniver-
sary of the murder, Hooper pushed
again, and the state police reopened
the case. They gave it to Detective
Steve Hinkle, a member of the Major
Crimes Section. It was his very first
cold case.
Hinkle was skeptical that he’d
be able to crack a case that had
flummoxed other detectives who
Janie Landers
to examine Landers’ blood-stained
shirt. They found that it was pack-
aged properly, so the DNA — which
can easily degrade if packaged
improperly — was still intact. It
was analyzed, and DNA that wasn’t
Landers’ was found. That DNA
result was run through the FBI’s
CODIS DNA database.
Bingo.
There was a match, to a man
named Gerald Dunlap, who had
worked in Fairview’s laundry in
1979. The institution, which had
a record of abusing its wards, was
closed in 2000.
“Finding something like that, it’s
such an old case, and such an inno-
cent victim, it’s just remarkable,”
state police Capt. Jon Harrington
said at a news conference Thursday
alongside Hinkle.
Hinkle described to reporters
what motivated him to keep working
the case, even on his own time.
“It needed to be solved,” he said.
“It’s a vulnerable young girl that got
murdered for no reason, and some-
body did it. Somebody needed to be
Marion County Sheriff’s Office via AP
Oregon State Police Major Crimes Detective Steve Hinkle stands
over files for the 38-year-old Janie Landers murder case at Oregon
State Police headquarters in Salem, Thursday. Oregon State Police
have been able to solve the brutal murder and determine that Ger-
ald Dunlap is solely responsible for Landers’ death.
had fresh access to evidence and
witnesses.
“I knew when I got assigned it
that it was a very low statistical like-
lihood that we’d solve it, especially
after that amount of time had gone
by,” Hinkle said at a news conference
Thursday.
Hinkle began digitizing the
contents of the boxes of files, so
investigators in years to come would
have something to go on.
Gerald Dunlap
But he and other investigators,
examining photos of deep stab
wounds near Janie’s neck, noticed
that there were no abrasions from
a weapon handle known as a hilt,
and they concluded the killer’s hand
probably slipped while he stabbed
Janie, cutting himself and leaving his
own DNA behind.
Then the investigators hit a
trifecta of good luck.
They went to the evidence locker
Legislature seeks analysis of its personnel policies
personnel rules lay out
procedures for reporting and
responding to harassment both
informally and formally.
Multiple informal complaints
of unwanted touching against
State Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Rose-
burg, are being investigated
by legislative counsel and the
Legislature’s human resources
department.
It’s not clear when the results
of that inquiry may come to light.
The intent of the informal
complaint process is to allow
members or employees of the
legislative branch to have a confi-
dential way to report harassment
and get the behavior to stop.
By
contrast,
formal
complaints against legislators, as
outlined in the rules, require an
outside investigation. The results
are presented to a legislative
committee on conduct.
That committee can recom-
mend the reprimand, censure, or
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Legislative
branch staff are putting together
a competitive bid for an indepen-
dent analysis of the Legislature’s
personnel policies in the wake of
allegations of harassment in the
Oregon Capitol.
Reports of unwanted touching
by two male lawmakers have
surfaced as more people nation-
ally have been coming forward
about their experiences with
sexual harassment and assault.
Legislative
counsel
is
preparing the bid for the outside
review, according to the office of
Employee Services, the Legisla-
ture’s human resources arm.
Legislative counsel could
not be reached for comment
to answer questions about the
scope, cost and timeline of the
review Wednesday.
The Legislature’s current
expulsion of the member, and the
action requires a two-thirds vote
of the chamber in question. It’s
an exceedingly rare process.
But while it’s rare for formal
complaints to be lodged with
the
Legislature
regarding
harassment, that doesn’t neces-
sarily mean harassment itself is
uncommon.
Since the allegations against
Kruse, several female lobbyists
and legislators have spoken
publicly about their experiences
with harassment and sexism.
Last year, the Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission
found that roughly 75 percent
of people who experienced
workplace harassment never
discussed the harassing conduct
with a supervisor, manager or
union representative.
“Employees who experience
harassment fail to report the
harassing behavior or file a
complaint because they fear
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
SUNDAY
SATURDAY
Cooler; a little
morning rain
A bit of afternoon
rain
47° 30°
44° 33°
MONDAY
Cloudy, a rain or
snow shower
Some snow in the
morning
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
43° 28°
41° 23°
44° 21°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
48° 34°
51° 29°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
52°
56°
75° (1908)
41°
36°
7° (1935)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Trace
Trace
0.08"
13.70"
10.34"
10.07"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
59°
57°
72° (1977)
41°
35°
0° (1935)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.00"
0.00"
0.06"
7.80"
7.33"
7.34"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
Last
Nov 3
Nov 10
44° 24°
45° 23°
Seattle
44/34
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
46° 30°
New
7:38 a.m.
5:39 p.m.
5:54 p.m.
6:40 a.m.
First
Nov 18
Nov 26
Today
TUESDAY
Increasing
cloudiness and chilly
Spokane
Wenatchee
38/23
40/22
Tacoma
Moses
45/28
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 43/24
42/27
47/31
44/28
47/25
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
48/36
47/31 Lewiston
50/28
Astoria
45/30
49/33
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
50/37
Pendleton 42/23
The Dalles 51/29
47/30
51/33
La Grande
Salem
44/26
52/35
Albany
Corvallis 51/36
52/33
John Day
43/28
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
53/30
51/33
42/23
Caldwell
Burns
55/34
42/15
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
49
44
42
51
42
42
51
46
51
43
47
44
40
49
52
54
53
50
47
50
44
52
38
39
49
47
47
Lo
33
20
23
40
15
23
33
29
29
28
28
26
24
31
39
38
30
26
30
37
18
35
23
23
37
31
25
W
sh
r
sh
r
sn
r
r
sh
r
sh
sh
r
r
r
sh
r
sh
r
r
sh
sh
sh
c
r
sh
r
r
Hi
49
42
41
51
37
38
50
43
48
40
40
41
38
51
51
53
47
47
44
49
43
50
35
36
48
45
45
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
28
69
52
51
52
26
49
50
35
60
58
W
s
c
s
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
sh
pc
pc
Lo
39
24
28
43
17
25
39
32
34
30
20
29
28
34
42
43
28
33
33
40
24
40
27
25
41
34
32
W
r
r
pc
pc
c
c
c
c
pc
c
pc
r
r
pc
r
pc
r
pc
r
r
pc
r
sf
c
r
r
pc
Sat.
Hi
57
79
66
55
77
36
60
68
53
67
66
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
47/28
Boardman
Pendleton
Lo
33
69
52
38
50
31
44
55
33
61
51
W
s
c
s
r
pc
pc
c
pc
s
sh
pc
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Mostly cloudy today with a
couple of showers; chilly across the north.
Eastern and Central Oregon: A thick cloud
cover today. A little rain; only in the morning
across the north.
Western Washington: Considerable cloudi-
ness today with a couple of showers. Some
clouds tonight; a stray shower.
Eastern Washington: Mostly cloudy today; a
little rain and snow with snow levels mostly
near 2,500 feet.
Cascades: Cloudy today with periods of rain
and snow. Snow level mostly near 3,500 feet
with several inches.
Northern California: Cloudy today; rain,
heavy at times at the coast. Snow levels
lowering in the mountains.
Today
Saturday
NNE 4-8
NW 6-12
SW 4-8
WSW 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
0
0
1
1
0
NEWS
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COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
54
83
65
58
78
34
62
66
59
80
67
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sat.
WINDS
Medford
49/31
Corrections
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PORTLAND (AP) — State Rep. John
Huffman has resigned from
the Oregon Legislature.
The Republican from
The Dalles told The
Oregonian/OregonLive last
week he was pursuing a job
with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and wouldn’t
seek re-election.
But Huffman decided
to leave right away,
announcing his resignation Huffman
in an Oct. 28 letter to
Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson.
Huffman had been in Legislature for 10 years.
Huffman’s heavily Republican district
includes portions of four counties. Commis-
sioners in those counties will appoint his
successor.
disbelief of their claim, blame
or social or professional retal-
iation,” a June 2016 report,
prepared by a special task force
on workplace harassment, states.
The two lawmakers accused
of harassment have reportedly
responded to informal allega-
tions differently.
Reports of “inappropriate
humor” and “inappropriate
touching” in recent years against
State Rep. David Gomberg,
D-Central Coast, were made
to House leadership, who
resolved the issue confidentially,
Gomberg said in a constituent
newsletter Sunday.
Gomberg says he changed his
behavior when it was brought to
his attention.
No complaint was filed
in that instance, although
legislative counsel was “infor-
mally consulted,” according
to a spokesman for the House
Democrats.
Subscriber services:
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
Oregon lawmaker resigns in
pursuit of Ag Department job
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Showers will extend from parts of Texas and Louisiana to Maine today.
Snow is forecast from Montana to Minnesota. Rain and high-country snow will fall from
Washington and Idaho to Northern California.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 95° in Fort Worth, Texas
Low 12° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
71
78
74
76
37
78
54
70
82
68
50
54
81
67
52
80
33
34
87
86
60
83
54
74
82
68
Lo
49
61
51
43
25
63
33
42
57
49
43
38
63
47
37
56
23
28
77
68
45
59
44
56
58
57
W
s
pc
s
pc
c
t
sh
c
s
c
c
pc
s
pc
pc
s
c
sn
pc
pc
c
s
c
pc
t
c
Sat.
Hi
75
78
61
58
32
79
46
52
81
70
51
56
88
72
52
84
29
39
86
85
63
83
64
75
79
69
Lo
47
59
56
51
16
62
31
45
58
56
47
53
69
39
48
58
22
24
75
70
58
61
52
55
64
60
Today
W
pc
pc
pc
r
sn
pc
r
pc
pc
sh
r
r
s
pc
r
pc
c
c
sh
pc
r
s
c
c
c
c
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
66
80
85
47
39
76
81
72
64
51
74
83
66
72
81
52
56
61
59
64
70
64
44
85
78
52
Lo
56
64
72
43
32
59
63
45
47
39
46
63
36
40
58
30
39
51
55
48
60
54
34
59
50
43
W
sh
t
pc
pc
sn
sh
sh
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
sh
c
pc
i
c
r
c
pc
pc
r
sh
pc
pc
c
Sat.
Hi
73
79
85
50
43
79
81
56
83
61
61
85
52
56
68
49
55
61
71
61
71
60
45
86
59
69
Lo
64
67
73
46
38
63
63
53
63
41
53
61
38
43
53
22
34
39
60
43
61
48
37
56
54
54
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
c
c
s
r
c
sh
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
r
c
c
r
sh
r
r
pc
sh
pc