This victim didn’t die from stabbing after all, officials say. As they identify the victim, the cause of death has changed …
Portland Police Bureau officers are dispatched to an apartment complex in the Centennial neighborhood on reports that a man had been stabbed. Courtesy KGW-TV News 8
By David F. Ashton
An elderly man lay dying of his injuries over the Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend, in the wee hours of Friday, November 28, at the Candalaria Plaza Apartments complex in the 900 block of SE 162nd Avenue.
Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched to the apartments, just east of Oliver Middle School at 3:43 a.m., having had a report that a man had been stabbed at that location.
First officers, then Homicide Division detectives, arrive at the crime scene. Courtesy of KPTV FOX 12 Oregon
“Arriving officers found a deceased person,” PPB Public Information Officer Sergeant Kevin Allen stated that morning. “The suspect or suspects left the scene before police arrived, and no immediate arrests were made.”
PPB Homicide Division detectives arrived to investigate the crime.
Later that morning, Sergeant Allen told reporters, “There’s reason to think that there is an inarticulatable risk to families in the area; we know that this kind of incident raises a lot of concerns.”
The PPB’s Mobile Command Unit pulls into the driveway, providing office space for detectives and investigators. Courtesy KOIN-6 News
On December 1, Portland Police revealed that the victim had been identified as 75-year-old James S. Miller, of Portland. The Medical Examiner determined Miller died of homicide by “blunt force trauma” and not by stabbing, as originally reported.
At that update, it was reaffirmed however that no arrests have yet been made. If you have information about this incident, email it to Homicidetips@police.portlandoregon.gov or call 503-823-0479 – and reference Case No. 25-325754.
© 2025 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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