Deputies arrest Newberg man, 68, suspected in 1988 homicide cold case

A 68-year-old Newberg man suspected of killing his estranged wife in 1988 pleaded not guilty Thursday to a second-degree murder charge in Washington County Circuit Court. Washington County sheriff’s deputies arrested Robert Elmer Atrops at his home around 4 a.m. Thursday. He is being held without bail at the Washington County Jail, the Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton said in a statement Thursday. Detectives assigned to the cold case unit of the district attorney’s office re-opened the death investigation in 2021 – 33 years after Atrops first reported his...