A 66-year-old Gaston man is in the Washington County Jail without bail, charged with the 1994 murder of his 85-year-old neighbor after grant-funded DNA testing linked him to the decades-old killing.
Randall Joseph Gall was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 4, at his Gaston home by the Washington County Sheriff's Office Tactical Negotiations Team. A Washington County grand jury indicted him Monday, Aug. 3, on one count of second-degree murder, the Washington County DA's Office said in a press release.
The case was solved by the same Cold Case Unit that serves all of Washington County, including the Bethany area, through a partnership between the DA's office and the Sheriff's Office.
The victim, Veta Hardebeck, was found dead Feb. 16, 1994, at her rural farm near the 10000 block of Southwest Hardebeck Road in Gaston. She lived alone. Investigators initially believed she had died from a medical condition or an accident while gathering firewood, but an autopsy determined she had been killed. Her daughter told KGW last year that the death appeared to have been staged to look like Hardebeck had fallen and struck her head.
Investigators believe Gall lived on a neighboring property at the time.
How DNA cracked the case
The break came through a $14,000 grant awarded in 2025 by the Oregon Cold Case Investigators Association and the Brothers Car Collection. That money paid for multiple pieces of evidence to be sent to a private lab for advanced DNA testing and analysis, according to the Banks Post.
District Attorney Kevin Barton said in a Tuesday statement that using modern science to solve old crimes helps bring justice to victims, their families and the community. He credited the grant funding for making the advanced DNA testing possible.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Allison Brown, who manages the Cold Case Unit, said in July 2025 when the grant was announced that she was hopeful the funding would provide new leads into Hardebeck's murder. She noted that forensic testing had changed dramatically in 30 years.
Cold Case Unit's track record
The Washington County DA's Cold Case Unit launched in 2020 with a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance. The unit funds two cold case detectives and a forensic consultant, and operates in partnership with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Beaverton Police Department, Hillsboro Police Department, Oregon State Police and Crime Stoppers of Oregon.
A review of Washington County cold case homicides identified 43 unsolved cases dating back to 1968. At least 14 contain DNA evidence eligible for renewed investigation.
The Hardebeck case is the unit's third resolution. In 2023, a jury convicted Robert Atrops for the 1988 murder of his wife, Deborah Atrops. In February 2026, the unit partnered with Hillsboro police to link serial killer Cesar Barone, who died in prison in 2009, to the 1992 murder of Hillsboro resident Elizabeth Wasson.
No trial date or next court appearance for Gall has been publicly announced. The case is pending prosecution.
Anyone with information about this or any other Washington County cold case can contact Detective Kevin Winfield at 503-846-8671 or submit an anonymous tip at p3tips.com (tip ID 823).
