The Leathers Oil Company murders refers to an unsolved

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

that occurred in

Gresham, Oregon Gresham ( ) is a city located in Multnomah County, Oregon, in the United States of America, immediately east of Portland, Oregon. It is considered a suburb within the Greater Portland Metropolitan area. Though it began as a settlement in the mid- ...

, United States, on January 17, 1994. The victims were Virginia Kay Endecott (born July 15, 1946); Rosealie Fey-Girtz (born September 17, 1942); and Mary Beth Carey (born May 16, 1968), each of whom were employed at the Leathers Oil Company

gas station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

. Their bodies were discovered in a storage room on the premises, each having been shot to death. The station was also robbed of approximately

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

9,000. Tyrom Walter Thies (born April 14, 1973), a former employee at the gas station who had been terminated for stealing in August 1993, was charged with three counts of aggravated murder, but disappeared a few weeks after the victims' bodies were discovered. Thies' cousin, Lawrence Benjamin Scherf, as well as his friend, Lori Ann Stephens, were both convicted and served ten years in prison for their roles as accessories to the murders. The case received national attention, and was profiled on the NBC documentary series ''

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television show, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl ...

'' and

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...

series ''

America's Most Wanted ''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Alternative Entertainment division of Fox Corporation. At the time of i ...

''. The crime was branded one of the most notorious murders in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

by ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'' in 2016. As of 2021, the whereabouts of Thies remain unknown.

Background

Tyrom Thies, a 20-year-old station manager of the Leathers Oil Company gas station in Gresham, Oregon, was suspended from his position on August 31, 1993, after allegedly stealing US$30 from the station. Thies had begun working at the station on April 9, 1992. After being terminated by the company's supervisor, Harry Staten, Thies returned the stolen money and formally apologized.

Murders

On the morning of January 17, 1994, a customer entered the Leathers Oil Company gas station and discovered the bodies of three employees: Virginia Kay Endecott, Rosealie Fey-Girtz, and Mary Beth Carey. Fey-Girtz was the mother-in-law of Carey. Approximately US$9,000 was taken from the station's safe and cash register.

Law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

determined that the victims had been taken into the storage garage of the station at gunpoint and ordered to lie face-down on the floor before each was shot in the back of the head, execution-style. A break in the case came on February 10, 1994, when an informant called law enforcement with a lead. Law enforcement received Thies' name the next day. His

Southeast Portland Southeast Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon. Boundaries and features Southeast Portland stretches from the warehouses along the Willamette River through historic Ladd's Addition to the Hawthorne and Belmont districts out to Gr ...

, Oregon, apartment was searched by law enforcement two days later. On February 16, 1994, a Multnomah County judge signed an

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...

accusing Thies of three counts of

aggravated murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

, but law enforcement were unable to locate him. A federal warrant was issued the following day, claiming Thies fled to

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

to avoid prosecution. Thies disappeared on February 9, according to the federal warrant's supporting complaint. His friend, 23-year-old Lori Stephens, and cousin, 20-year-old Lawrence Scherf, were questioned by law enforcement in early February. In an effort to locate Thies, notable physical details about his appearance were released to the public, specifically a distinctive tattoo of a

black panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

on his abdomen. In a flyer published by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

in 1994, it was noted that Thies may have used the alias Tyrom Walter Crozier.

Arrests and convictions

Stephens was arrested on April 13, 1994, and charged with

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

murder for driving the

getaway vehicle A crime scene getaway is the act of fleeing the location where one has broken the law. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A :crime scene is the "location of a crime; e ...

from the crime scene. Scherf, who was also in the vehicle, was arrested two days later. According to Stephens's husband, she had driven both men to the gas station on the morning of the murders, but was unaware that Thies intended to rob the station. Stephens and Scherf remained in the vehicle while Thies entered and exited the station. Despite this, Stephens pleaded guilty to her charges on October 18, 1994. Both Stephens and Scherf were convicted and served ten years in prison for their roles in the murders. As part of a plea-bargained agreement for their reduced prison sentences, both Stephens and Scherf agreed to testify against Thies when he is brought to trial. As of 2021, the whereabouts of Thies remain unknown. According to a 2011 profile of the case by ''America's Most Wanted'', law enforcement assumed Thies was still alive and possibly still residing in the United States under a false identity.

Publicity

The case was profiled on the NBC documentary series ''Unsolved Mysteries'' on January 13, 1995, and also received attention on the Fox Broadcasting Company series ''America's Most Wanted''. The crime was branded one of the most notorious murders in the Pacific Northwest by ''The Oregonian'' in 2016.

References

External links