PSU Magazine Winter 2005

gt. Wayne Svilar '90, a 24-year veLeran of Lhe Ponland Police, has Laken on a new challenge: head of the bureau's brand-new Cold Case Homicide Unit. 'Tm probably Lwo Lo three years away from reLiremenL, bUL I'm amazed al how Lhis job has grabbed me and made me wat1L LO pUL even more work in," says Svilar. He rolls his eyes when asked if his new job is anyLhing like Lhe CBS drama Cold Case. Svilar doesn't watch cop shows-real or scripted. "Whal l have noticed is they focus on the invesLigators and Lhat's cool and iL's sexy, but you know, it's not like that." Svilar's nol inLerested in other inves– LigaLors or their made-for-Lelevision sLOries. He's inLerested in helping families of murder vicLims. There are 280 unsolved murders in Portland. When Svilar talks about the moumain of cases, he uses Lhe word "closure" a lot. "The families will not resL until there is some closure, unLil they have some explanation." 16 P U MAGAZI E WINTER 2005 Svilar is struck by how weighed down the families are by grief, even decades after the crime was commiLLed. ne family sLands out in particu– lar. This fall, Svilar visited the moLher of homicide viclim Donna Kuzmaak. "She was very emotional ," he recalls. Kuzmaak was brutally beaten , stabbed , and strangled in her own home 25 years ago. The mother sLill lives in the same home where , in 1979, she learned of her daughLer's murder. "l remember her describing exacLly where she was in Lhe kitchen when her son-in- law came in to tell her what had happened," Svilar says. "She r membered almost verbatim whaL he said. " The woman broke down in Lears when Svilar LOld her thaL, even Lhough Lhere weren 't any new leads, he and the cold case team were reopening her daughter's case. 'Tm struck by how much faith PHOTO BY 51EVl. Dll'AOL,\ Lhey're pulling in us, because Lhey know that they haven't been able to solve it." Svilar and his team are pulling at least some of their faith in Lechnology Forensic science has made significam advances in the past 10 LO 15 years , especially when it comes to D A evi– dence. The team will re-examine the D A found at the scene of Kuzmaak's murder and try to match iL up Lo any criminals in the system. ln fact , there are 63 unsolved mur– ders of women in Portland. Cold case investigaLOrs are focusing on those in particular because they believe they can find something new from the old evidence. "Historically, when females are mur– der d, Lhere's usually physical contact beLween the suspect and Lhe viclim," says Svilar. "Either by assaulL or sexual assaulL or both ." That means DNA. Cold case investigaLOrs have already sent samples to the state crime lab for evaluation and are anxiously awaiting resulLs. In the meantime, vilar is encouraged by stories he has heard