The Contract Murder of Kathryn Ann Martini-Lissy

Early on Thursday morning, July 5, 1984, Kathy packed a suitcase, had a quick breakfast, and then loaded the suitcase into the trunk of her sports car. As she backed out of the garage of her condo and gazed across the lake, Kathy likely went over in her mind the outline of her planned overnight business trip to Eugeneit was just part of her organized nature. Being of a positive nature, she also likely never considered the possibility that she might never return to her home as she zoomed on down Interstate 5.

View of Eugene, Oregon, from Skinner's Butte

When Kathy arrived in Eugene nearly two hours later, she checked into Room 305 at the Valley River Inn, one of the finer hotels in town, where she had reserved a room. The 258-room, four-star establishment noted for its fine dining was booked solid for the weekend with tourists and businesspeople. After checking into her room, she attended a business meeting, a luncheon, an afternoon business meeting and then returned to her room to rest. After recuperating from the business affairs of the day, she had dinner and drinks, and then returned to her room for the night so that she could get an early start the following morning on her trip back to Portland. Little did she know that she would never leave her hotel room alive.