John Jefferson
Left inset: An old photo of 81-year-old victim Judy Hurley (KPTV/YouTube). Right inset: Michael Moody in court Friday, Feb. 23, 2025 (KPTV/YouTube). Background: The home where cops and friends say Judy Hurley unknowingly lived with squatters (KPTV/YouTube).
A bedridden 80-year-old in Oregon was killed and stuffed into a suitcase after her house was taken over by squatters, with cops and friends saying they turned it into a “base of operations to commit crimes” — including the woman’s murder and “abuse” of her corpse.
“She didn’t even know who was living there,” said one of Judy Hurley’s only reported acquaintances, Justin Misner, who spoke to local Fox affiliate KPTV about the octogenarian’s death this month at the hands of 54-year-old Michael Moody, who was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder.
“I was disgusted and it’s horrible,” said Misner’s partner, Leslie Ortiz. “Nobody deserves to go that way regardless of your history.”
Misner and Ortiz reportedly met Hurley in the spring of 2024 after showing interest in buying her home on North Syracuse Street in the St. John’s neighborhood of Portland on Sauvie Island. The couple told KPTV that the woman had no family or friends that they knew of and she was moving out of her residence to go to a retirement home.
“We helped her move out of this home and into a retirement home as well as helping her to doctor’s appointments,” Misner said. “We grew really attached. She would tell us that she loved us and told us that she thought we were family. She told us we were the only ones that, like, actually helped her the last couple of years.”
Hurley reportedly left the retirement home for medical reasons and was forced to return to her home on Sauvie Island, where she was bedridden and unable to keep it secure from unwanted entry. Squatters allegedly took over the residence and began living on the second floor, given Hurley’s state and inability to check upstairs.
“Judy was in a pretty bad spot,” Misner said. “People would come to the house and essentially use it as a base of operations to commit crimes.”
Misner said they lost contact with Hurley after moving her into the retirement home.
It’s unclear when Hurley was killed exactly, according to police. Her body was “found inside a suitcase on the west bank of the Willamette River” on Feb. 17 and her death was determined to be a homicide, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office reports.
“Detectives gathered evidence establishing probable cause to charge [Moody],” the sheriff’s office said in a press release Friday. “The investigation remains active, and detectives continue gathering evidence at this time.”
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Misner and Ortiz believe Hurley was preyed on due to her kindness and generosity.
“It’s hard to hear about any passing in general but to hear how she passed is really heartbreaking,” Misner told KPTV. “I believe that she was just a really kind person that just got taken advantage of.”
Moody has been arraigned on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse. He’s due to appear in court again on March 3.
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