PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Cold-case investigators in Oregon asked for the public's help Tuesday in tracking down a suspect in the 1963 slaying of a Portland woman.
Police said Tuesday it was highly likely their man, ex-con Johnny Lawrence, is already dead; however, they have not been able to confirm his passing and would like to talk about the death of Mary Frances Reid in the event he is still alive.
Lawrence was on the police radar at the time of Reid's slaying in her apartment on Northeast 9th Ave. One witness pointed the finger at him, but a second witness could not corroborate the first witness's version.
Cold-case investigators recently tracked down both witnesses and re-interviewed them. This time, police said, the second witness backed up the first witness's statements and said fear of retaliation had caused the discrepancy back in the 1960s.
Lawrence, who would be about 90 if still alive, had several brushes with the law in his time and may have died a violent death in Kansas City some years back. "In addition to his age, other witness information related to Johnny Lawrence's lifestyle strongly point to his death but investigators need to be able to confirm that information," the Portland Police Bureau said in a written statement.
Lawrence was described as a black male about 5-foot-7, 150 pounds with roots in the St. Louis area and a stretch at California's San Quentin prison for a narcotics conviction in the 1950s.
