On November 27, 1980, which was Thanksgiving Day, a tragic and brutal double murder occurred at the north Portland home of Darcey Renee Fix, a 22-year-old woman. Fix, along with her guest Douglas Keith Altig, 24, were found shot to death in what appeared to be an execution-style killing. The incident was part of a series of violent crimes committed by a notorious serial killer.
The suspect in these murders was Randall Woodfield, a man with a history of violent and sexual offenses.
Woodfield had known Darcey Renee Fix during his college days, as she was an ex-girlfriend of one of his close friends. On the morning of November 27, Woodfield arrived at Fix's home, where he found both Fix and Altig present. He bound both victims and then shot them to death using a. 32 caliber revolver, which was later found to be missing from the scene.
Woodfield's involvement in the murders was suspected due to his acquaintance with Fix. However, at the time of the initial investigation, law enforcement did not have concrete evidence linking him directly to the crime. Woodfield's evasive and deceptive responses during questioning further raised suspicions, but his blood type did not match the semen found at other crime scenes, which initially led investigators away from him.
Randall Woodfield's criminal activities escalated rapidly during this period. He had begun a string of robberies and sexual assaults in Portland in 1975, committing these crimes at knifepoint. Between 1980 and 1981, he committed multiple murders along the I-5 corridor, including the murder of Cherie Lynn Ayers, a former classmate, just a month before the Fix and Altig murders. Woodfield's modus operandi and lack of remorse were notable; he was described by detectives as having no acknowledgment of his own responsibility for his actions and exhibiting an egotistical demeanor during interrogations.
Woodfield was eventually arrested in March 1981, following a series of investigations into his various crimes. He was convicted in June 1981 of the murder of Shari Hull and the attempted murder of her co-worker, Beth Wilmot. He received a sentence of life imprisonment plus 90 years. In subsequent trials, he was also convicted of sodomy and improper use of a weapon in a sexual assault case, adding 35 more years to his sentence. Despite being convicted only in the murder of Shari Hull, Woodfield has been linked to numerous other murders and rapes through DNA and other evidence, with estimates suggesting he may have committed up to 44 unsolved homicides and at least 60 unsolved rapes.
The case of Darcey Renee Fix and Douglas Keith Altig remains one of the many tragic incidents attributed to Randall Woodfield's violent spree, highlighting the devastating impact of his crimes on the lives of his victims and their families.
