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Jeffrey Paul CUTLIP

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Classification: Serial killer
Characteristics: Predatory sex offender - Necrophilia
Number of victims: 3
Date of murders: 1975 / 1977 / 1993
Date of arrest: July 2012
Date of birth: 1949
Victims profile: Marlene Claire Carlson, 44 / Julie Bennett, 15 / Nielene Doll, 33
Method of murder: Strangulation / Drowning
Location: Multnomah County, Oregon, USA
Status: Pleaded guilty. Sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison on January 17, 2014
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Oregon serial killer gets life in prison

By Laura Rillos - Kptv.com

January 17, 2014

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - Sick and twisted. An evil and cowardly criminal. A soul of pure evil.

Those are some the descriptions relatives of Jeffrey Cutlip's victims had for the serial killer at his sentencing hearing.

A judge sentenced Cutlip to three consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of Marlene Carlson, 44, in 1975 and Julie Bennett, 15, in 1977; and Nielene Doll, 33, in 1993.

Convicted of sodomy and burglary in 1982, Cutlip was classified as a predatory sex offender in Oregon. Records show he spent much of the past three decades in and out of prison.

The murders remained unsolved until July 2012 when Cutlip, living in Texas, called Brownsville police to admit his involvement. He was arrested and extradited to Portland.

The confession

Detectives never expected Jeffrey Cutlip's confession to come like this.

In July 2012, the predatory sex offender called 911 in Texas.

"Hi, is this the police? I need to turn myself in," Cutlip said to the dispatcher.

He added, "I'm afraid people will find out and that's what's been scaring me."

Portland police cold case detectives had suspected Cutlip in two murders from the 1970s, the killings of Marlene Carlson, 44, in 1975 and Julie Bennett, 15, in 1977, but did not have enough evidence to arrest him until he confessed.

Cutlip would also admit killing Nielene Doll, 33, in 1993.

"He is, without a doubt, the single most evil person that I've ever encountered," said Det. Jim Lawrence.

The victims

Det. Lawrence began reviewing the death of Julie Bennett in 2008, after her family asked cold case investigators to take another look.

Julie Bennett's body was found in Johnson Creek in the spring of 1977 and her death was ruled an accidental drowning.

Her family never believed the shy and sweet teenager drowned, because their mother was a lifeguard and taught them all to swim when they were young.

They suspected Cutlip, the last person Julie Bennett was spotted with, had something to do with her death, but the creek's cold water destroyed evidence.

"I absolutely believed, based on other things we know about Jeff Cutlip that he was down at the park playing his guitar and once Julie Bennett approached him to talk to him about playing guitar, that she was not going to get away from Jeff Cutlip," Det. Lawrence said.

He kept her case file front and center on his desk, a reminder that he wanted to close the case one day.

Cold case detectives began suspecting Cutlip in Marlene Carlson's death when they realized Cutlip lived in the same apartment building as the victim in 1975.

After no one had seen the friendly mother of three for a week, officers found the woman bound inside her apartment. She'd been sexually assaulted and strangled to death. A padlock was placed outside the front door.

Despite their suspicions, there was not enough evidence to arrest Cutlip for either of the murders until he called 911.

"It was frustrating to wait, so when he finally did call the Brownsville police, I was ecstatic," said Det. Lawrence.

While talking to the 911 dispatcher, Cutlip named Bennett and described the killing of Carlson.

After Det. Lawrence and Det. Meredith Hopper flew to Brownsville, they determined Cutlip had also killed Nielene Doll after meeting her at a bar in Portland.

Her body was found in rural Clackamas County.

"The second day after we were in Brownsville, when I was able to call Julie Bennett's sister and Marlene Carlson's daughter, their reaction is when we realized, this is what we do," said Det. Lawrence.

The sentencing

After Cutlip plead guilty to the three murders last fall, a Multnomah County judge sentenced him to three consecutive life sentences.

Cutlip kept his head down during the sentencing hearing, as relatives of the victims read emotional impact statements.

"We loved our mother very much. I was not close to her, but I had a chance to be close to her and you took that away from me," said Sheri Rekow, Carlson's daughter, told Cutlip. "I hope you rot in hell."

"Whatever the motive, I'm grateful to know the truth," said Julie Robinson, the youngest daughter of Marlene Carlson. "I'm grateful to close this chapter and end the searching and wondering of the last 38 years."

"We will never get to see Julie again in this lifetime or know what she might have chosen to do with her life as an adult, the family and children and life she might have had," said Sandra Bennett, sister of Julie Bennett. "All of these things were taken by this sickening, evil person that you see here before you."

"I no longer feel the need to confront him," said Rebecca Bennett Blick, Julie Bennett's sister. "I'm just very, very, very grateful he won't be out there again to do this to any other families."

Det. Hopper read a letter from the daughter of Nielene Doll during the sentencing hearing.

The woman wrote she was raised by another family, but tried to find her mother, only to learn Doll was killed weeks before.

Cutlip did not speak during the sentencing hearing or offer the victims an explanation for his crimes.

During the 911 call, Cutlip told the dispatcher that an officer he spoke with about his sex offender status made a comment that led him to start thinking about his crimes.

"It's been eating me ever since. I can't stand it," Cutlip said. "I can't stand the idea that people will hate me."

Det. Lawrence suspects Cutlip confessed for another reason.

He said Texas authorities cut off Cutlip's public benefits while he was awaiting trial for failing to register as a sex offender.

"I believe he did it to make sure that he got fed and got care for as long as he needs feeding and care," said Det. Lawrence. "I believe he turned himself in because he was tired of running and tired of being hungry and out on the streets."

 
 

Jeffrey Cutlip, sexual predator, pleads guilty to three homicides, gets life sentence

By Maxine Bernstein - Oregonlive.com

October 9, 2013

Convicted sexual predator Jeffrey P. Cutlip pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing three women in Oregon - all 20 or more years ago.

Cutlip, 64, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for one count of aggravated murder and two counts of murder.

His voice was faint as he answered Multnomah County Circuit Judge Eric Bergstrom's questions with a "yes" or a "yeah" to show he understood the plea deal. He avoided the death penalty under the agreement.

Cutlip, now a wisp of a man, wore glasses low on the bridge of his nose. He was led into court by two sheriff's deputies and looked back twice to see who was in the courtroom. Several relatives of his victims attended the brief hearing.

He was arrested in July 2012 after he called 911 in Brownsville, Texas, saying he wanted to talk to detectives "about some bad things he had done in the past." He ended up confessing to three killings in Oregon.

Portland police have described Cutlip's motive as sexual gratification. Detectives testified in court last year that he particularly enjoyed tying up his victims and had sex with the corpses in two cases.

Cutlip told police he killed Marline Claire Carlson, 44, who was found dead in her downtown Portland apartment in 1975. Cutlip said he strangled her with a phone cord and then sexually assaulted her corpse.

Cutlip lived down the hall from her at the time, but was never questioned by Portland detectives then even though his name showed up in the Portland homicide case file as one of the apartment building's tenants.

Cutlip also detailed the drowning death of a 15-year-old Milwaukie girl, Julie Marie Bennett, in 1977, and the strangling death of a 33-year-old Spokane woman, Nielen Loribell Doll, in 1993, police said. He killed Doll after meeting her at a Portland bar.

"We're very thankful and grateful he pled guilty," said Jan Terry, Julie Bennett's sister. "It means he's going to pay for what he did. He won't be able to hurt anybody else and the family is very grateful and thankful.

Cutlip's lawyer, Benjamin Kim, said Cutlip has accepted responsibility for his actions.

"He's looking forward to resolving it," Kim said. The lawyer declined to say why Cutlip waited until last year to confess to the killings.

The aggravated murder count stems from Doll's killing and the two other murder counts are for Bennett's and Carlson's deaths.

The remaining charges from his 11-count indictment will be dismissed and he won't be classified as a dangerous offender under the plea deal.

He'll be formally sentenced Dec. 16.

Since 1982, Cutlip has been classified as a predatory sex offender after his Oregon convictions for sodomy and burglary in a separate case.

He left Oregon several times while on parole – once for three years, without telling authorities where he was going, as required under the sex offender registration law. He's currently on parole for past offenses.

 
 

Jeffrey Cutlip: Sex offender profile

By Maxine Bernstein - Oregonlive.com

October 1, 2013

Sex offender registration requirements, parole supervision and state borders couldn’t slow down Jeffrey Cutlip.

Cutlip has been classified as a predatory sex offender in Oregon since 1982, when he was convicted of sodomy and first-degree burglary. He entered a woman’s home, tied her up and gagged her, holding her captive for six hours while he sexually assaulted her. Seven months after he was released from prison in 1993, he robbed two people using a shotgun. His parole was revoked and he was sent back to prison for six more years.

Five months after he was paroled a second time in 2000, he failed to register as a sex offender and left the state.

It was Cutlip’s first of many trips out of state to duck his registration requirements.

His parole officer requested a warrant for his arrest in April 2001. But for three years, Oregon authorities didn’t know where he went. He finally returned to the state on his own in 2004, with one purpose: to reinstate his Social Security disability benefits.

In a letter to the state parole board to explain why he left, Cutlip wrote that he went to New Mexico to avoid his parole officer’s “continuous verbal and emotional abuse.” He complained he had too many conditions to follow. He claimed he worked at a homeless shelter and volunteered at an elder care center in New Mexico.

“I toured Texas doing one night (musical) stands,” Cutlip added.

With his Social Security benefits reinstated, Cutlip told the board he looked forward to living a quiet life and pledged to remain in Oregon. But the board sent him back to prison for four months.

He got out in December 2004, but six months later he violated his parole again, accused of grabbing the buttocks of a teenage girl leaving a MAX train platform in Northeast Portland. The girl yelled and swung her arm to knock Cutlip’s hand away.

This time, he headed back to prison for two years. A psychologist’s assessment described Cutlip as having “cunning, manipulative behavior, shallow effect, callused lack of empathy, poor behavioral controls, irresponsible, parasitic lifestyle.”

When he got out again, he registered his address in November 2007 as a field between Southwest Barbur Boulevard and Interstate 5. But his parole officer got wind that Cutlip wasn’t camping out as he said, but living with another sex offender, and at one time, a girlfriend.

On May 6, 2008, Cutlip called to check in with his parole officer and learned he faced a warrant for his arrest because he was violating the conditions of his supervision. Cutlip promised to report to the parole office the next day.

Instead, he left the state.

About a week later, he was arrested in Bakersfield, Calif. Back before Oregon’s parole board, Cutlip explained that he was homeless “so he opted to move to a warmer climate.”

He ended up back in prison until July 28, 2010.

By January 2011, he had failed to report to his parole officer and left Portland. Authorities in Oregon issued a nationwide warrant for his arrest.

By April 2012, Portland police Officer Sara Clark, part of the bureau’s sex offender registration detail at the time, noticed that Cutlip was among a list of offenders who hadn’t registered.

She ran his name in several databases, and found his most recent address in Texas. She called police in Brownsville, Texas, to alert them that Cutlip might be in their community and was wanted for failure to register as a sex offender.

She got a call back from the U.S. Marshals Service in Texas. To make a case against Cutlip, the marshals asked Clark for copies of Cutlip’s original charging documents for the rape and burglary he committed in the early 1980s.

“We don’t hang on to those,” Clark said. “That was just a snag I fell into.”

The effort dropped there.

Several months later in July 2012, Cutlip called 911 in Brownsville. He told the dispatcher that he wanted to talk to detectives “about some bad things he had done in the past,” Brownsville police said.

He ended up confessing to three Oregon homicides: the drowning of a 15-year-old Milwaukie girl in 1977, the strangulation of a 44-year-old woman who lived down the hall from him in a downtown Portland apartment in 1975 and the strangulation of a 33-year-old Spokane woman in 1993.

Brownsville police said Cutlip had been in their town for about 11 months. He had been staying at an adult day care facility called La Cadenita and living at the Colonial Hotel in downtown Brownsville.

Once he was back in custody in Portland, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office registered Cutlip’s new address with state police: the downtown jail.

Cutlip, now 64, awaits trial.

 
 

Man confesses to killings

Upi.com

November 27, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A man confessed to Portland, Ore., police he committed three murders, in 1975, 1977 and 1993, and was held without bail after a court hearing.

Police say Jeffrey Cutlip, 63, a predatory sex offender after convictions in Oregon for sodomy and burglary in 1982, traveled to Brownsville, Texas, earlier this year without reporting his move to authorities, then phoned local police to talk with detectives "about some bad things he had done in his past," a Brownsville police spokesman said.

Portland police Detective Meredith Hopper interviewed Cutlip a day later, and testified Cutlip said, "I want to get this over with. I want to clear this up."

Cutlip confessed to strangling his neighbor Marlene Claire Carlson, then 44, in Portland in 1975, then sexually assaulting her body. He also detailed his drowning of Julie Marie Bennett, then 15, of Milwaukie, Ore., in 1977 and strangling Nielen Loribell Doll, then 33, of Spokane in 1993, The (Portland) Oregonian reported Tuesday.

The drowning of Bennett had been classified as accidental until Cutlip's confession, the newspaper noted.

Police describe Cutlip's motive as sexual gratification. Detectives said he particularly enjoyed tying up his victims, and in two of the cases, having sex with their corpses.

Defense attorneys in court pointed out a lack of forensic evidence and raised questions about Cutlip's mental state, noting he has spent time at Oregon State Hospital.

Cutlip's was indicted in Multnomah County, Ore., Circuit Court in the three homicides, and faces counts of murder and aggravated murder.

 
 

Jeffrey Cutlip, Sex Offender, Confesses To Murders From 1970s In Portland

By Jonathan J. Cooper - HuffingtonPost.com

July 23, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Police in Oregon say a 63-year-old man called authorities in Texas and confessed to two Portland homicides in the 1970s.

Portland detectives arrested Jeffrey Paul Cutlip over the weekend in Brownsville, Texas. Police said he admitted his involvement in two slayings – one in 1975, the other in 1977. Authorities haven't released the names of the victims or other information about the crimes.

Cutlip is being held in the Cameron County Jail awaiting extradition to Portland.

Oregon Department of Corrections records show Cutlip has spent most of the past three decades behind bars, in and out of prison for crimes including sodomy, burglary and robbery. He was required to register as a sex offender following a 1982 sodomy conviction. Records say he targets female strangers using threats and weapons.

 
 

Jeffrey Cutlip Confesses to Murders

San Francisco Chronicle

July 23, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A 63-year-old man with a long criminal record has been arrested in Texas after police said he confessed to two Oregon homicides committed in the 1970s.

Portland detectives arrested Jeffrey Paul Cutlip over the weekend in Brownsville, Texas, police said Monday.

Authorities said he admitted his involvement in two slayings — one in 1975, the other in 1977. However, authorities haven't released the names of the victims or other information about the crimes.

Cutlip is being held in jail in Cameron County, Texas, awaiting extradition to Portland.

"It's always good to close a cold case, make an arrest, give closure to people's families," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland police spokesman.

Oregon Department of Corrections records show Cutlip has spent most of the past three decades behind bars, in and out of prison for crimes including sodomy, burglary and robbery. He was required to register as a sex offender following a 1982 sodomy conviction. State sex offender records label him a "predator" and say he targets adult female strangers using threats and weapons to gain compliance.

Cutlip was initially charged with several offenses in 1982 and ended up pleading guilty to burglary and sodomy for crimes committed in 1978 and 1982, respectively.

In the 1982 case, a lawyer for Cutlip wrote that Cutlip had a history of mental problems and was admitted to a mental hospital several times since the 1960s, according to Multnomah County court records. The lawyer wrote that Cutlip was taking medication for manic depression.

Brownsville police spokesman Billy Killebrew said Cutlip called police Saturday and later came in to speak with investigators. Portland detectives flew in Sunday to check out his stories.

Brownsville authorities said he confessed to killing four people. Simpson declined to release any information about what Cutlip has told detectives, including any motive for coming forward or whether he is being investigated for other crimes. He also did not explain why Cutlip was arrested for two crimes rather than four. Simpson said he wasn't sure whether victims' families had been notified of Cutlip's arrest.

Brownsville police arrested Cutlip in April for failing to register as a sex offender, Killebrew said. He told police he'd lived in the area for about a year.

 

 

 
 
 
 
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