Do you know who killed 64 year old Daisy Motley? On the morning of May 8, 1979, a sense of unease prompted the manager of an apartment building at 620 NE Brazee in Portland, Oregon, to check on one of his tenants. An anonymous phone call had been received, reporting a disturbance in the apartment of Daisy W. Motley, a 64-year-old Caucasian / White female who lived a quiet life alone. When his knocks and calls went unanswered, the manager used his passkey to enter her residence, only to be confronted with a brutal and tragic scene.
Inside, Daisy Motley was found murdered. The last known contact with her was a telephone conversation with her daughter around 9 p.m. the previous evening, May 7, 1979. Investigators determined that she had been sexually assaulted. The apartment showed no signs of forced entry or robbery, leading detectives to surmise that the assailant was likely someone she knew and had willingly let into her home.
Despite a thorough investigation into her death, the case grew cold over the years. No arrests were ever made, and no definitive suspects have been publicly identified. The anonymous caller who alerted the apartment manager to the initial disturbance was never identified. The murder of Daisy Motley remains an unsolved crime, a lingering mystery in the city of Portland. Detectives continue to encourage anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward in the hopes of one day bringing her killer to justice.