The Roseland Theater is a place renowned for its memorable performances, beautiful showcases, and an urban legend about how a young man, with a microphone wire around his neck, haunts the theater on a Starry Night. Within the year of 1990 a murder took place at the Starry Night Nightclub. However, what happened inside to cause such a grim act?

The Theater was built by The Apostolic Faith Church in 1922, the original spot was an old saloon that they bought and then raised into a two-story building. It was eventually sold in 1981 and was refurbished by Larry Hurwitz which he transformed into a nightclub called “The Starry Night” in 1982. He came to own the building from 1982 to 1991.

Larry Hurwitz planned the murder of Tim Moreau with his assistant, George Gastagnola. The two enacted a counterfeit ticket scheme for bolstering their sales. This worked, for a time.

When pressed by a distraught customer, Moreau discovered the scheme, and when he confronted his boss, Hurwtiz was able to calm him down. However, when Moreau left, Hurwitz and Castagnola calmly began a plot to kill Moreau to prevent word from spreading.

On an unknown night in January, Moreau was called into Hurwitz’s office. After a brief argument, Moreau was strangled from behind with a microphone wire. Castagnola held Moreau down as the oxygen was cut off from his brain as the wire wrapped around Moreau’s neck. He struggled for a moment, but Hurwtiz and Castagnola held him down until Tim stopped moving. After committing the deed, the two calmly disposed of the body, and ordered pizza.

Moreau’s corpse has never been found, and despite rumors of it being in the Columbia River Gorge, the fire of 2017 has possibly destroyed his remains.

The Police had believed that Larry Hurwitz to be a possible suspect in the murder. However, without solid evidence they couldn’t do anything to convict him. Throughout the investigation, Larry Hurwitz had finally been arrested after it had been discovered that he had been committing tax evasion, leading to a sentence of one year in jail.

In 1998, Castagnola was questioned by police and he had confessed to his involvment in the murder. He told the police that he had conspired with Larry Hurwitz to kill Tim. Because of his confession Larry Hurwitz was convicted of the murder in 1998, however the case was a little scattered. Tim’s body was never found and Castagnola’s confession was thought to be groundless, as he did not have substantial evidence or a location for the body.

Larry Hurwitz took a Plea Bargain and could spend twelve years in prison or ten years if he helped in the search of Tim’s body. He chose the latter, and was sentenced to prison in 2000. Despite Tim’s parents agreeing to the letting Larry have a Plea Bargain they did not find peace in his guilt. Larry continued to deny the case, proclaiming that he wasn’t involved with Moreau’s death. He was released after eight years due to “good behavior.” Hurwitz’s life was, and is, filled with crime. Even after the murder, he has been in and out of prison, giving even further belief that he was behind the death of young Tim Moreau.

Some say that, beneath the hum of music, you can hear the groans of a boy, and out of the corner of your eye, dancing to the beat of phantom sounds, you can see a young man with a bleeding and black neck. But, if you ever see him, don’t accept his false ticket, because you may be led to the back room...

Authors

Rachael Kramer- Project organizer, writer. Created a google doc, and a discord server
Andrew Thompson - Animated graphics, edited and designed stylized .gifs
Damon Day- Creative Writer, assisted with filming of Live Action sequences
Jakeob Maygra - Graphic design and web styling
Haley Shea Miller - Videographer and created title video
Elaina Sundwall - Web developer

Buskirk, Audrey Van, and Michaela Lowthian. “1990.” Willamette Week | "1990" | March 9th, 2005, 9 Mar. 2005,web.archive.org/web/20070929120502/www.wweek.com/editorial/3118/6088/.

Perry, Douglas. “Larry Hurwitz, the 'Starry Night Murder,' and a Life of Crime: Reporter Jim Redden on His Years Tracking a Killer.” Oregonlive, 17 Sept. 2019,www.oregonlive.com/ portland/2019/09/larry-hurwitz-the-starry-night-murder-and-a-life-of-crime-reporter-jim-redden-on-his-years-tracking-a-killer.html

Redden, Jim. “The Starry Night Murder: Timeline.” pamplinmedia.com, Portland Tribune, 18 June 2019, pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/435145-345732-the-starry-night-murder-timeline

Stevens, Arian. “Roseland Theater.” Roseland Theater PDX, roselandpdx.com/about-us/roseland-theater/