Cheryl Keeton (October 27, 1949 – September 21, 1986) was a

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

lawyer who was found dead inside her Toyota van on the

Sunset Highway (Oregon) Sunset Highway may refer to: *Sunset Highway (Oregon) Sunset Highway may refer to: * Sunset Highway (Oregon), the westernmost portion of U.S. Highway 26 in Oregon *Sunset Highway (Washington) Primary State Highways were major state highways in t ...

by a passing motorist. Her husband, with whom she was embroiled in a divorce, was found guilty of murder.

Background

At the time of her death, she was going through a long bitter divorce and custody battle over her three sons with her husband, Bradly Morris Cunningham. A trial that followed her 1986 murder inspired true crime writer, Ann Rule, to write her 1995 best seller, ''

Dead By Sunset ''Dead by Sunset'' is a 1995 true crime nonfiction book by author Ann Rule. It is based on the 1986 Oregon case of the murder of Cheryl Keeton, who was found beaten to death inside her van on the Sunset Highway and the later conviction of her es ...

''. Cheryl Keeton was interred in Bunker Hill Cemetery located in Cowlitz County,

Washington (U.S. state) Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

Murder

Bradly Morris Cunningham (born 1948) was found guilty of murder and was admitted into the

Oregon State Penitentiary Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), sometimes called Oregon State Prison, is a supermax, maximum security prison in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States in Salem, Oregon, Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland, Oregon, Portl ...

on January 9, 1995 and is serving a life sentence. Since his incarceration, Bradly wrote and published an ebook titled "Ann Rule Deconstructed". The copyright is 2013. In his ebook, Bradly accused Ann Rule of being a liar and of exaggerating with regards to her "Dead By Sunset" book.

Film

''Dead by Sunset'' (1995) was a made-for-television movie that aired on the

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

television network. It was based on Ann Rule's true crime best selling novel. Actress

Annette O'Toole Annette O'Toole (born Annette Toole; April 1, 1952) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Lisa Bridges in the television series '' Nash Bridges'', Beverly Marsh in the 1990 television mini-series adaptation of Stephen King's epic hor ...

starred as Cheryl Keeton and actor

Ken Olin Kenneth Edward Olin (born July 30, 1954) is an American actor, television director, and producer. He is known for his role as Michael Steadman in the ABC drama series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which he received a Golden Globe Award ...

starred as Bradly Morris Cunningham.

References

External links

* 1949 births 1986 deaths Oregon lawyers People murdered in Oregon American murder victims 20th-century American lawyers Uxoricides 1986 murders in the United States {{US-crime-bio-stub

Background

Murder

Film

See also

References

External links