OPB: Portland police slow-walked high profile homicide case

Published 12:00 am Sunday, September 18, 2022

By Jonathan Levinson, Ryan Haas/OPB

Christopher E. Knipe, 47, was arraigned Fri., Aug. 5, 2022. Knipe is accused of single count of second-degree murder in the 2019 death of Sean Kealiher. Records released this week suggest police were slow to investigate Knipe's potential role in Kealiher's death.

For more than two years, the Portland Police Bureau has insisted its detectives diligently investigated the 2019 killing of a well‐known anti‐fascist activist.

Those claims now appear shakier than ever.

New records obtained by OPB through a public records appeal show police collected significant evidence at the scene of the crime that pointed to a clear suspect just days after the homicide.

Portland police spoke to the main suspect, Christopher Knipe, in the days after the killing of Sean Kealiher. They also had likely obtained surveillance footage implicating Knipe more than two years before officers arrested him on Aug. 4.

In August, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office arraigned Knipe on a charge of second‐degree murder for allegedly running over and killing Kealiher with a silver Ford Explorer on Oct. 12, 2019.

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