Feb. 25, 2026 | Abbi Duhart | News Editor
Content warning: this article mentions violence, sexual assault and rape
On Feb. 10, Hillsboro police released that a 1992 cold case was linked to a convicted serial killer and solved.
Elizabeth Wasson, an 82-year-old widow and mother of three, was found murdered in the bedroom of her home Sept. 23, 1992. She had been found stabbed and strangled, but police didn’t have enough information or advanced enough DNA testing for the time to move forward with the investigation.
In 2023, Megan Townsend, a Hillsboro police detective, reopened the case and submitted DNA evidence for testing that was found on Wasson’s dress at the crime scene. Male DNA was found and was then linked to the convicted Hillsboro serial killer Cesar Barone. Barone was originally a suspect for the murder of Wasson due to the similarity with his other victims — his targets mainly included elderly women who lived alone, but no evidence was available to directly link him to the murder.
Barone was convicted in 1995 for the murders of four other women in the Hillsboro area that occurred between 1991 and 1993. Additionally, he strangled and sexually assaulted three other women who survived their attacks, including an assault of both his stepmother and grandmother.
His first attack was on his neighbor, Alice Stock, when he broke into her home and threatened her with a knife, before eventually leaving without harming her. Later, he returned to her home, where he both raped and killed her.
Following this attack, Barone raped and attacked his stepmother, then attacked his grandmother, both of whom survived.
In 1980, he was arrested for burglary charges and was sentenced to five years in prison with possible parole after two. Despite his short sentence, Barone launched multiple escape attempts and was moved to a higher classification and transferred to a different prison because guards thought he was dangerous. This moved his eventual release to 1986. While in prison, Barone also crossed paths and talked with infamous serial killer Ted Bundy, and allegedly took pride in interacting with him as well as bragging to his fellow inmates.
Starting in 1991, Barone killed 61-year-old Margaret Helen Schmidt, 41-year-old Martha Browning Bryant, 23-year-old Chantee Elise Woodman and 51-year-old Betty Lou Williams. Out of these victims, at least two were sexually assaulted and all were murdered through various methods such as strangulation, a shot from a gun and one victim dying from a heart attack while Barone was sexually assaulting her.
In 1995, Barone was convicted and arrested for the murder of Bryant, and was connected to his other victims soon after. He was sentenced to death, but died in jail in 2009 before his execution.
Wasson’s family members expressed tremendous relief at receiving answers for the death of Elizabeth, but are asking for privacy at this time.
Detective Townsend comments, “For years, this family lived without answers. Today, we’re finally able to give them the truth they deserved from the beginning. Our thoughts remain with them, and we honor the life of Elizabeth Wasson by ensuring this case is no longer left in silence.”
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
