In the early evening of January 26, 1994, a knock at the door of their North Williams Avenue home forever altered the life of Dan Merton Thomas's wife. At approximately 6:30 p.m., she opened the door to an unknown male who was armed with a handgun. The man forcefully entered the residence, leading to a confrontation with 47-year-old Dan Merton Thomas, a white male. The encounter tragically ended with the intruder shooting Mr.
Thomas before fleeing the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing a group of young African-American males in the vicinity of the Thomas home just minutes before the fatal gunshot rang out. The shooter himself was described as a young African-American teenager. In the course of their investigation, police learned that Mr. Thomas had a small marijuana growing operation in his basement and occasionally sold some of what he grew. This led authorities to believe that robbery was the likely motive behind the home invasion and subsequent murder.
Despite the witness descriptions and the established motive, the case of Dan Merton Thomas's murder remains unsolved. The suspect who entered the Thomas home that January evening and fired the fatal shot has never been apprehended. The Portland Police Bureau continues to list the case as a cold case, holding out hope that new information might one day lead to an arrest and bring closure to the family of Dan Merton Thomas.
