Julia Annabell Armstrong, a 59-year-old white female, was tragically murdered on August 5, 1980, in Portland, Oregon. Born on September 12, 1920, in Portland, she lived her entire life in the city and was laid to rest at Wilhelm's Portland Memorial Mausoleum.
On the day of her death, Julia Armstrong became the third known victim of a violent crime spree perpetrated by William Perry Jackson, a 25-year-old white male, and his accomplice, Gary Allen Smith.
The duo had previously committed two murders: the first on May 21, 1980, involving the abduction and stabbing of 45-year-old janitor Calvin Toran in Portland, and the second on June 11, 1980, where they brutally beat 74-year-old Hazel Wilson during a home invasion in Vancouver, Washington. Wilson succumbed to her injuries three days later.
In the case of Julia Armstrong, Jackson and Smith broke into her Portland residence, where they beat her to death before ransacking her home. This heinous act was part of a series of violent crimes that the pair committed across Oregon and Washington. Following Armstrong's murder, the duo, along with a new accomplice, 18-year-old Michael Anthony Butler, continued their crime spree, which included the murder of 78-year-old Theodore May on August 7, 1980, and the abduction and murder of 14-year-old Charmel Ulrich on August 10, 1980.
The trio's rampage came to an end when they were apprehended on August 22, 1980. William Perry Jackson was subsequently convicted of multiple counts of murder, rape, and kidnapping, receiving several life sentences in both Oregon and Washington. He remains incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Gary Allen Smith was also convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Michael Anthony Butler faced charges related to his involvement in the later crimes.
The brutal murder of Julia Annabell Armstrong stands as a stark reminder of the senseless violence that plagued the Pacific Northwest during that period. Her death, along with those of the other victims, underscores the devastating impact of such crimes on individuals, families, and communities.
