A quiet morning in the coastal city of Astoria, Oregon, was shattered on September 25, 2024, by a tragic discovery at the Bayshore Apartments on West Marine Drive. Denise Lynn Mathew, a 51-year-old Caucasian female, was found deceased in what authorities have described as a murder-suicide. A maintenance employee of the apartment complex made the grim discovery, finding two unresponsive individuals lying on the floor of the office.
Astoria police and Oregon State Police responded to the scene at approximately 9:57 a.m. and found a man and a woman, both with fatal gunshot wounds. Despite the immediate medical aid rendered by first responders, both individuals were pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators quickly determined that the two were a married couple and that the incident was contained to the apartment office.
The investigation revealed that Denise Lynn Mathew, who was the manager of the Bayshore Apartments, was the victim of a homicide. Her husband, 57-year-old Scott Mathew, was identified as the suspect. Authorities concluded that Scott Mathew shot his wife before turning the gun on himself in a self-inflicted gunshot wound. As the sole suspect in the death of his wife, and being deceased himself, no arrests were made in the case. The Astoria Police Department has asked anyone with further information regarding the incident to contact their detective division.
