Portland police announced on Tuesday the indictments of two men in the 2008 murder of 37-year-old Frank Williams III from Portland.
Last Friday, a grand jury indicted Shane Hall and Khang Tran in Williams' murder. Williams was beaten and stabbed multiple times while walking near the Fox Street soccer fields on Aug. 16, 2008. Detectives within the department spent the following fifteen years attempting to solve the case.
“Unsolved homicide cases are never closed," said Interim Assistant Chief Robert Martin at a press conference on Tuesday. "[The unsolved cases] always remain assigned to an investigator and are routinely reviewed as new forensic testing techniques are available or new leads are developed."
Officer Martin said he could not comment on what led to the breakthrough until an affidavit for the case is filed. Both Hall and Tran are currently incarcerated for unrelated crimes.
“Our detective unit is overloaded with work," said Portland Police Chief Mark Dubois. "It’s a normal day for [a detective] to have multiple cases going — and some pretty serious ones [at that]. There’s a great sense of pride, obviously, when you come to a conclusion and solve these [cases]."
In August, the FBI announced a $10,000 reward for information about the case. Dubois says that reward is still ongoing.
The Portland Police currently have twelve unsolved homicide cases under investigation. This case is the department’s fourth unsolved homicide that's been brought before a grand jury since August 2020.
"The hours of work and skill of the primary detectives and evidence technicians is what led to these indictments," added Asst. Chief Martin.
