BROWNSVILLE, Tex. -- A Texas man has been arrested in two previously unsolved Oregon murders.
Jeffrey Paul Cutlip, 63, called police in Brownsville, Texas to admit his involvement in a 1975 and 1977 homicide in Portland.
Cutlip appeared in court Tuesday morning. He is accused of strangling 44-year-old Marlene Claire Carlson in 1975. She was found dead in her apartment at 715 Southwest 15th Avenue on August 6 after vanishing about a week earlier.
The second murder linked to Cutlip dates back to April 4, 1977, when 15-year-old Julie Marie Bennett went missing and was found dead two days later in Johnson Creek.
A background check conducted by KGW also revealed that Cutlip was convicted back in 1982 of burglary and sex abuse. He served time and was listed as a predatory sex offender after his release.
Cold case investigators from Portland traveled to Texas over the weekend to take Cutlip into custody. He is now awaiting extradition to Portland.
