In the winter of 1982, the life of a young man named Anthony Jose Silveira, a 29-year-old White male, was tragically cut short. On December 3rd of that year, he was last seen hitchhiking, reportedly on his way to a National Guard drill in Medford, Oregon. This would be the last time he was seen alive by those who knew him. His journey ended in a brutal and senseless act of violence that would later be connected to a string of horrific crimes.
Sometime after he began his travels, his nude
body was discovered on a roadside near Interstate 5 in Salem. An investigation into his death determined that he had been strangled. The examination also revealed the presence of Diazepam in his system, suggesting he may have been drugged. The circumstances of his death were grim and pointed to a predator who was both calculated and cruel.
The investigation into Anthony's murder eventually led authorities to a notorious serial killer named Randy Kraft, who was also known as the "Scorecard Killer." Kraft was ultimately convicted of murdering 16 young men between 1972 and 1983, though he is suspected of many more. A chilling piece of evidence that linked Kraft to Silveira was a coded list found in Kraft's possession that investigators believed referenced his victims. On this list, the entry "PORTLAND RESERVE" is thought by prosecutors to correspond to Anthony Silveira, who was from the Portland area and serving in the National Guard Reserve. Further cementing the connection, Silveira's fatigue jacket, which bore his name, was discovered in a hotel room in Grand Rapids where Kraft had been staying. This evidence placed a personal item of the victim in the possession of the suspected killer, providing a tangible link in a case that spanned multiple states and numerous victims. Randy Kraft was subsequently sentenced to death for his crimes and remains on death row.
