Elizabeth Wasson, an 83-year-old woman, was found dead in her Hillsboro home in the 2100 block of SE Brookwood Avenue on the evening of September 23, 1992. She had returned from the grocery store earlier that evening; her daughter, unable to reach her by phone, discovered her between about 7 p.m., when the daughter last saw her, and 9 p.m., when she arrived. Elizabeth’s death was ruled a strangulation. There were no signs of forced entry and nothing appeared to have been taken, so robbery did not seem to be a motive.

In 1993 Cesar Barone emerged as a suspect in Elizabeth’s killing; he was already charged in several other murders and later received a death sentence for other crimes. Barone was never charged in Wasson’s case and he died in prison in 2009. The murder remains an open and active cold case with the Hillsboro Police Department seeking information or tips that might explain what happened that September night.

If anyone knew Elizabeth, was in the Brookwood Avenue area that evening, or has information about contacts with Cesar Barone in 1992, please share what is known.