Phil Stanford is an American journalist and author based in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. He is best known for his work on the 1989 murder of

Oregon Department of Corrections The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 12 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison ...

director

Michael Francke James Michael Francke (; October 2, 1946 – January 17, 1989) was a New Mexico judge and director of the state's Corrections Department, the governmental bureau which manages prisons, inmates and parolees. He was later appointed by then-Oregon ...

and his efforts to prove the innocence of Frank Gable, who was wrongfully convicted of the crime. His 1994 '' Oregonian'' series on the “

Happy Face Killer Keith Hunter Jesperson (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian-American serial killer who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the early 1990s. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many lett ...

” case resulted in two innocent people being released from prison. He is the author of ''Portland Confidential'' and three other books, as well as the lead writer and executive producer of the hit podcast series "Murder in Oregon: Who Killed Michael Francke?"

Career

''The Oregonian''

From 1987 to 1994, Stanford wrote a column for the ''Oregonian'' which covered crime and local politics. Despite the popularity of the column and the success of the "Happy Face Killer" series, disagreements with management over his coverage of the Francke murder led Stanford to quit the paper in 1994. Stanford continued to write about the Francke case and police corruption in his column for the ''

Portland Tribune The ''Portland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area. Launched in ...

'', which ran from 2001 to 2008. Before moving to Oregon, Stanford worked as a magazine writer and editor in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. He has written for a number of publications including ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'', '' The Washingtonian'', '' Parade'', ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...

'', and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''.

Books

Stanford's first book, ''Portland Confidential'', which won the Independent Publisher's “Best True Crime Award” for 2005, was described by one reviewer as “an entertaining trip back to a ''film noir'' incarnation of the Rose City”. ''The Peyton-Allan Files'', about the 1960 lovers’ lane slaying of two Portland teenagers, purports to solve the most sensational murder in Portland history. ''White House Call Girl'', Stanford's only departure from Portland subject matter, presents a different perspective on the infamous 1972 Watergate break-in. His book ''Rose City Vice'' deals with a 1970s vice cop scandal and subsequent official cover-up. Other publications include a collection of his columns from the ''Oregonian'' entitled ''Do You Know How Much a Light Year Is?'' and a graphic novel ''City of Roses'' with artist Patric Reynolds.

Podcasts

Stanford worked with iHeartRadio podcasts to produce the 12 part series "Murder in Oregon: Who Killed Michael Francke?," which climbed to #4 on the Amazon podcast charts.

Works

Books

* ''Do You Know How Much a Light Year Is?'' Touchstone Press (1991). * ''Portland Confidential: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Rose City''. Westwinds (2004). * ''The Peyton-Allan Files''. Ptown Books (2010). * ''White House Call Girl''. Port Townsend, Wash.: Feral House (2013). *
Evidence Package.
* ''City of Roses: Crime Does Not Pay'', with Patric Reynolds. Milwaukee, Ore.:

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

(2014). * ''Rose City Vice: Portland in the '70s—Dirty Cops and Dirty Robbers''. Port Townsend, Wash.: Feral House (2017).

Articles

"The Charge of the White Horse Brigade."
'' Inquiry'', (Oct. 29, 1979), pp. 6–7. * "Watergate Revisited." ''

'' (Mar./Apr. 1986).

References

External links

Appearance
on C-SPAN
Letter
(Aug. 13, 2013) to

Adam Parfrey Adam Parfrey (April 12, 1957 – May 10, 2018) was an American journalist, editor, and the publisher of Feral House books, whose work in all three capacities frequently centered on unusual, extreme, or "forbidden" areas of knowledge. A 2010 '' S ...

from John W. Dean * A Murder in Oregon with Phil Stanford at Gold Beach Rotary Club (Mar. 6, 2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanford, Phil American non-fiction writers Living people Journalists from Portland, Oregon Writers from Oregon The Oregonian people Year of birth missing (living people)