On Halloween night 1992, Octaviano Zaragoza, a 31-year-old man who was without housing, was found comatose with severe head injuries in the narrow alley behind Rick’s Down Under tavern at 247 Washington Street, just east of Washington Jefferson Park in Eugene. His shoes had been stolen and his pack rifled, and medical examiners determined he later died of blunt force trauma from multiple strikes to the head, possibly inflicted with a piece of wood or another hard object.

Detectives narrowed the assault to the late hours of October 31 or the earliest hour of November 1 in a neighborhood crowded with bar patrons, parties, and people passing near Washington Jefferson Park. Investigators have long hoped that someone who was coming and going from Rick’s Down Under, the park’s basketball courts, or nearby house gatherings might recall something useful. No arrests have been announced; the case remains open as cold-case volunteers and the Violent Crimes Unit pursue modern DNA testing and new tips.

If anyone was in that area on Halloween 1992 or remembers noticing an injured man, stolen shoes, or a disturbance that night, please share what you know.