One of Portland’s most notorious killers, the Oregon story is back behind bars this week. Us Weekly confirmed
Lawrence “Larry” Hurwitz was arrested by police in the town of Sandy on January 16, according to documents shared with Us Weekly.
To Oregonians, Hurwitz is perhaps best known as the Starry Night Killer.
In 1990, Hurwitz murdered his former employee, Tim Moreauwho was a 21-year-old university student. Moreau had worked at a nightclub and music venue owned by Hurwitz called Starry Night. The club was the scene of the January 23, 1990 murder, which Hurwitz got help in committing from another employee.
Tim was reported missing in 1990 and for years, the case went cold. Then, in 1998, that same worker, Jordi Castagnolahe confessed to having played a role in Tim’s murder. He stayed clean all night and got Hurwitz involved. The two men, he told authorities, had strangled Tim with a club they had made from microphone wire and a broken broom handle.
The club, he said, broke, leaving Tim unconscious. Tim’s head was wrapped in duct tape to ensure his death.
Castagnola said they put her body in garbage bags that they threw in the trunk of a car. Tim was buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area of Washington state. They later planted his car at the airport, Castagnola explained, to make it look like Tim had fled the area.
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Tim was killed to prevent him from reporting illegal activities at the club, investigators learned from Castagnola. Hurwitz and other employees were involved in a counterfeit ticketing scheme, selling passes to concerts in the concert hall of a restaurant managed by Hurwitz’s girlfriend.
In this way, they were able to avoid the fees they would otherwise have paid to Ticketmaster, the music promoters, and the performers who took the stage, keeping that money for themselves.
The two killers received plea deals in 2000, Us Weekly confirmed Hurwitz was also indicted by the federal government for income tax evasion.
Castagnola served 10 years and moved to Hawaii, and Hurwitz served his 12-year sentence and moved to Wisconsin in 2008.
Tim was a student at Reed College majoring in Philosophy. He had a 3.696 GPA when he decided to take time off from school to work in the music industry in Portland.
Tim’s remains have never been found. Shortly after the murder, the venue was sold and renamed the Roseland Theatre.
Hurwitz, now 71, is back in police custody on $500,000 bail for violating his lifetime parole. This violation occurred when he was arrested for a crime of harassment.
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Hurwitz is charged in this most recent arrest with unlawful and intentional harassment by means of offensive physical contact, KOIN reported.
He was also arrested in 2019 by California authorities for possession of 4.4 pounds of cocaine and $328,000 in drug money. Reports indicate that he eventually pleaded guilty to those charges in 2021 and was sentenced to eight years, three and a half of which he served.
A jury trial is scheduled for March 19.