On the morning of February 9, 1983, the body of 25-year-old Elamari Magdud was found in the parking lot of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in North Portland, Oregon. Magdud, a Libyan student studying machine design at the University of Portland, was discovered naked and bloodied and had died from homicidal violence. His clothing was scattered at the scene; that detail briefly led investigators to consider sexual assault and exposure but those theories were later dismissed.

Police linked the killing to a large brawl that had erupted the night before in the nearby Portsmouth Club parking lot. That fight began over gravel kicked onto a car and involved many people; one person arrested at the time was later released. Magdud was not part of that altercation and had been seen leaving the Spinning Wheel Tavern around closing time. Detectives believe he was mistaken for one of the fighters because witnesses said he resembled a combatant, and that assailants later chased and beat him to death in the church lot.

Detectives had suspects early on but no arrests or formal identifications were ever made. The case later went cold and has been periodically reviewed as investigators hoped for new leads or forensic advances. If anyone knew Magdud, was in that area that night, or has information about the people involved in the Portsmouth Club fight, please come forward.