Robert Atrops sentenced to life in prison for 1988 murder of estranged wife
Robert Atrops, now 71, was in a Washington County Courtroom in April 2025 — more than 34 years after Deborah's body was found.
On Tuesday, Atrops was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
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, the same night she was supposed to pick up her 8-month-old daughter from her estranged husband's residence in Sherwood.
When she didn't arrive at the agreed-upon time between 7:30 and 8 p.m., her husband Robert filed a missing person report.
The next day, her 1988 black Honda Accord was spotted at a dead end of Murray Road. The license plates were gone. The driver's window was rolled down. Police found her body in the trunk.
Investigators said the position of her body inside the trunk indicated she was put there after she was killed. Witnesses said they noticed the car there early in the day on Nov. 30.
A few days later, an autopsy revealed Deborah Atrops was physically assaulted and strangled to death. She was 30.
The case went cold until the Washington County Cold Case Unit partnered with the Washington County Sheriff's Office to reinterview witnesses and re-examine forensic evidence.
A trial for Atrops was set to begin last year but was in late October 2024. Atrops' attorney said he ended his life to avoid having police 'pin the murder on him,' but prosecutors combated the theory.
'You're going to hear that John Pearson had an alibi that night. that he fully cooperated with their investigation, and that there was no evidence that he was going to have any plans or contact,' Washington County prosecutor Allison Brown said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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