Black Denied Bail After DNA Found in White Murder Victim’s Underwear

KPTV
October 25, 2015

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The man charged with killing an aspiring actress in Portland in 1988 will remain in the Multnomah County Jail.

Multnomah County Judge Kelly Skye denied bail for Walter Wayne Howard on Thursday morning, concluding the evidence in the case is strong enough to keep him behind bars while awaiting trial.

Howard, now 60 years old, is charged with the murder of Renee Harvey, who had moved to Portland from Montana to pursue an acting career. She was a secretary for the Oregon Special Olympics.

The 25-year-old was found dead in her Buckman neighborhood apartment on Jan. 15, 1988, a few days after her apartment was burglarized.

Harvey believed her neighbor, Howard, had broken into her apartment.

The original investigators suspected Howard was involved in the murder, but did not have enough evidence to arrest him at the time.

FOX 12 profiled the search for Harvey’s killer in 2012.

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Cold case detectives arrested Howard in San Diego last year.

“In Mr. Howard’s case, he’s managed to go decades because he did it behind closed doors and because the science wasn’t available in 1988,” said prosecutor Brian Davidson.

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