Walter Uria Pirtle was killed in downtown Eugene in the early morning of August 23, 1989. Pirtle, 47 and experiencing homelessness, was waiting for a blood bank to open with another man when two individuals on foot demanded money and then attacked. Pirtle was struck multiple times in the head with a club and also stabbed; he died at the scene from blunt force trauma. The companion was not seriously injured.

Witnesses reported the two suspects as white males in their early 20s, one about 150 pounds and the other 140 to 150 pounds, and said they fled in a light brown Ford Pinto station wagon. No arrests have ever been made and the murder remains unsolved. If anyone knew Walter, was in downtown Eugene that morning, or has information about the Pinto, please come forward with what can help the investigation.