Leotis Bullard, a 40-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot shortly before midnight on September 22, 1988, inside a house on the 100 block of NE Beech Street in North Portland that police described as a known crack house. A man entered that night apparently looking specifically for Bullard; multiple rounds struck him and another man inside was wounded but survived. Bullard was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.

Earlier that evening he had been seen at Cleo-Lillian’s Social Club at 3041 N. Williams Avenue purchasing cocaine around 9:00 p.m., a detail detectives used to fix the timeline. He had also been employed at a horse racing track in Salem. Detectives concluded the shooter came looking for Bullard, but motive and the shooter’s identity remained unclear and no arrests were announced, leaving the investigation a cold file that Portland police have kept open.

Did anyone in Portland in 1988 see who entered that house on NE Beech Street or know why someone would have specifically targeted Bullard?