The family of the murder victim opposes Larry Hurwitz's release before his trial on new charges in California

PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — Convicted Portland murderer Larry Hurwitz could be released from a California jail before going to trial on drug trafficking charges.

Hurwitz is among thousands of California inmates being considered for release under an emergency court order to slow the spread of COVID-19 through that state’s prison and jail systems. He is being held without bail in an Orange County jail after being arrested there last year with 4.4 pounds of cocaine and more than $328,000 in cash.

Hurwitz is currently on post-prison supervision release in Oregon after serving a 10-year sentence for the 1990 murder of Tim Moreau in Portland. Hurwitz is specifically prohibited from visiting California because that is where his victim’s family lives. Hurwitz had been sanctioned by Multnomah County authorities for other release violations before that.

If Hurwitz is released early, he is set to be transported to Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, where the Oregon Board of Parole could sentence him to up to six months in jail for violating the terms of his release.

Mike and Penny Moreau, the parents of Hurwitz’s victim, oppose his early release.

“We strongly believe Hurwitz is a threat to public safety. We believe he is trying to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to get a pass for the crimes he was caught committing in California and the numerous violations of his parole conditions in Oregon. We will continue to hold Hurwitz accountable for the brutal murder of our son Tim and exercise our rights as crime victims,” the Moreau’s said in an email to the Portland Tribune.

A release hearing for Hurwitz had been scheduled in Orange County Superior Court on Friday, April 10. But his attorney canceled it at the last minute and requested a settlement conference instead. Hurwitz is facing up to 15 years in prison for convicted on the current charges.

The settlement conference did not result in a plea agreement, however. Hurwitz’s attorney is expected to reinstate the motion for his early release. A new hearing could be held as soon as Monday, April 13.

Hurwitz was arrested on June 27, 2019, in Huntington Beach during a traffic stop. He was initially pulled over for talking on a cell phone while driving.

According to the arrest report, the officer thought Hurwitz was acting extremely nervously, and a grocery bag with a large amount of cash was clearly visible in the back seat. The officer also smelled burnt marijuana. A subsequent search of the car turned up the cocaine in one grocery bag and the cash in two others.

Hurwitz originally denied knowing anything about the drugs or money. But in a subsequent interview after being arrested, Hurwitz said the cash belonged to him. He claimed he earned it as a “producer” in Portland in the 1980s and 1990s, and had taken it out of a Merrill Lynch account. The police did not believe Hurwitz, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized it as illegal drug profits.

Hurwitz owned the Starry Night rock club in 1990 when he murdered Moreau, his promotion manager, to cover up his own involvement in a counterfeit ticket scheme. Moreau had moved to Portland from New Orleans to attend Reed College before going to work for Hurwitz.

Hurwitz pleaded no contest to murdering Moreau in 1999 and then confirmed the overwhelming evidence against him to settle a civil wrongful death suit brought by his victim’s parents in 2001. Hurwitz also agreed to pay the Moreaus $3 million for the death, but has only paid a small fraction of that since being released in 2008.

After being released from prison in Oregon in 2008, Hurwitz was repeatedly caught traveling out of state without permission by Multnomah County Parole and Probation officials, who are charged with supervising him. He has been placed on house arrest, required to wear a GPS monitoring device, and made to perform community service, according to post-release supervision records obtained by the Portland Tribune through a public records request.

Although Hurwitz was required to wear a GPS device as recently as December 2018, he was not wearing one when he was arrested in California.

You can read pervious previous stories about the case at https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/434010-343476

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