Do you know who murdered Robert and Frieda Wheatley in 1988? On August 29, 1988, a concerned granddaughter's call for a welfare check led Portland police to a home at 2612 N. Holman. Inside, they made a grim discovery in the basement: the bodies of 61-year-old Caucasian male Robert Wheatley and 69-year-old Frieda Wheatley. The medical examiner later determined that both had been strangled to death. Investigators believe they were likely killed two days earlier, on August 27, 1988.
The scene of the crime suggested a robbery that had turned deadly.
The house was ransacked, though there were no signs of forced entry. This led detectives to theorize that the killers may have posed as potential buyers for the home, which had a "For Sale By Owner" sign outside, to gain peaceful entry. A number of items were missing, including a television set, jewelry, credit cards, and an ATM card. The couple's light green 1979 Buick Regal was also gone.
In the days before the bodies were found, the stolen ATM and credit cards were used extensively throughout Northeast, North, and Downtown Portland. The activity on the cards ceased once the discovery of the homicides became public. A few days later, the stolen Buick was found abandoned in the parking lot of the Jantzen Beach Shopping Center.
Despite the active use of the stolen cards and the recovery of the vehicle, the case grew cold. Over the years, Portland's Cold Case Homicide Unit has revisited the investigation, resubmitting evidence from the crime scene for analysis with modern DNA and fingerprinting technology that was unavailable in 1988. At one point, retired detectives had identified a person of interest, but they were unable to gather enough corroborating evidence or witness testimony to move forward with an arrest. To date, no arrests have been made in the murders of Robert and Frieda Wheatley, and the case remains unsolved. Law enforcement continues to believe that there are people in the community with information that could help solve the decades-old crime.
