The Washington County DA's Cold Case Unit, which partners with the Hillsboro Police Department, has charged a 66-year-old Gaston man with murdering his 85-year-old neighbor more than 30 years ago after advanced DNA testing linked him to the crime.

Randall Joseph Gall was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 4, at his home in Gaston after a Washington County grand jury indicted him the day before on a charge of second-degree murder in the killing of Veta Hardebeck. The Washington County Sheriff's Office Tactical Negotiations Team carried out the arrest, according to a press release from the DA's office.

Gall is being held without bail at the Washington County Jail.

He was arraigned Wednesday, Aug. 5, and pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set.

A death staged to look like an accident

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.

An autopsy determined she had been the victim of a homicide. Hardebeck was strangled on the back porch of her home, according to Oregonian archives. Her daughter told KGW the scene appeared to have been staged to look like Hardebeck had fallen and struck her head while bringing in firewood.

Hardebeck was described as a homemaker and lifelong resident of Gaston in her obituary. Investigators believe Gall lived on a neighboring property at the time of the killing.

Grant-funded DNA testing broke the case

Despite what prosecutors called a "robust investigation" in 1994, the case went cold for more than three decades.

The Cold Case Unit reopened the Hardebeck investigation in 2025 using a $14,000 grant from the Oregon Cold Case Investigators Association and Brothers Car Collection, according to the Banks Post. That money paid for multiple items of evidence to be sent to a private lab for advanced DNA testing and analysis, which led directly to the indictment.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Allison Brown, who manages the Cold Case Unit, said in a July 2025 announcement of the grant: "We are hopeful this funding will provide new leads into Veta's murder."

Those leads came through.

Cold Case Unit's track record

Washington County launched its Cold Case Unit in 2020 with a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance. The unit investigates violent-crime cold cases involving DNA tied to a possible suspect, and it operates in partnership with the Hillsboro Police Department, the Washington County Sheriff's Office and other local agencies.

The unit reviewed 43 cold case homicides dating back to 1968 and identified at least 14 with DNA evidence eligible for renewed investigation. A $533,200 DOJ grant renewal in 2023 extended funding for two cold case detectives and a forensic consultant through Sept. 30, 2026.

The Hardebeck case marks the unit's third solve. In February 2026, the unit partnered with the Hillsboro Police Department to solve the 1992 murder of Elizabeth Wasson, linking it to serial killer Cesar Barone, who died in prison in 2009. In March 2023, the unit's work led to the conviction of Robert Atrops for the 1988 murder of his wife, Deborah Atrops.

Anyone with information about cold cases in Washington County can call 503-846-8671 or submit an anonymous tip at p3tips.com.