Who killed 67 year old Martin Gatewood in 1992? Martin Gatewood, a 67-year-old white male, was discovered grievously injured inside his apartment at 1969 NE Johnson Street in Portland on June 7, 1992, after a caretaker’s calls went unanswered and the assistant manager opened the door for a welfare check. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but died shortly afterward; an autopsy determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma.
In the hours before his death, Gatewood had been seen at his residence around 1:30 p.m.
He lived with significant health challenges that required the use of a wheelchair for most activities, a fact that added to the vulnerability of the scene investigators encountered.
Detectives later noted aspects of his personal life that could have intersected with the crime: he was known to socialize at Couch Park, not far from his home, and to bring acquaintances back to his apartment. Despite these leads, the investigation did not yield a definitive account of who entered his home that day or how the fatal assault unfolded inside the apartment.
No arrests have been announced in the case, and authorities have not publicly identified a suspect. The homicide remains an open cold case with Portland Police encouraging anyone with information to come forward in hopes of resolving the unanswered questions surrounding Gatewood’s death.
