Confessed Oregon Murderer, Convicted Sex Offender Featured At Jazz Festival

Jeffrey Cutlip

Charismatic sex offender Jeffrey Cutlip, once released from prison in Multnomah County, Oregon(Portland), hightailed it for the obscurity of extreme south Texas, that is, Brownsville, Cameron County.  Cutlip introduced himself to patrons at the Crescent Moon and other downtown establishments as "Jessie", skillfully spinning stories that elicited sympathy and material help.

With a guitar on his back, dressed in a hobo Aerosmithian style, he liked to pass himself off as a musician who could namedrop a number of rock legends as his collaborators, although he literally couldn't play a lick.  Perhaps it was that fairy story that garnered him a feature photo in last year's Latin Jazz Festival, no shame intended for George Ramirez because we were all fooled at some point.

Cutlip loved the collective gullibility of Brownsville and its non-invasive police department.  Many times BPD would just ask him to move on after a night of  sleeping on some business or residential door step or patio.  He liked to hit an adult day care around lunch time, complaining about the menu as if he were a paying customer.  He wore a plastic hospital bracelet on his wrist to fend off the hospital security guard who might question his presence in the Baptist lobby.

His luck changed when he gave an off-duty BPD detective a bit of attitude resulting in his first local background check.  Clearly, he had not registered as a sex offender, violated many of his parole stipulations, including geographical limitations, being where young people congregate and/or alcohol served.  Incredibly though, BPD put him quickly back on the street despite the obvious.  Two weeks after his real background surfaced, I observed Cutlip at a bus stop on Central Blvd. and called 911.  I was told a police unit would be dispatched shortly.  Fifteen minutes later I called again receiving the same promise.  On the third call a dispatcher said she had checked with a detective who advised her that Cutlip was "alright."

Several days later Cutlip ventured of his own accord into BPD and confessed to three 70's murders he said he had committed in Oregon.  Once extradited back to Portland, newspaper reports indicated Cutlip had provided detectives with details of at least two murder scenes never before revealed.  Cutlip, through his lawyer, entered a plea of innocent with respect to at least one of the murder charges..