Arrest made in Northwest Portland homicide; suspect booked on murder and weapons charges

Louis Josef Chlumak, 51, was arrested in connection with a homicide earlier this week in Northwest Portland, Oregon. Police booked him into the Multnomah County Jail late Thursday night on charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. KATU reported that a review of LexisNexis records shows Chlumak lives in the apartment complex where officers found a woman dead on Wednesday. Officers responded Wednesday afternoon to a reported assault in the 600 block of Northwest 18th Avenue, where they found Vernetta F. Fish, 63, dead inside. Court records show Chlumak was convicted in Multnomah County in 2014 of fourth-degree assault and second-degree theft, and had a 1993 misdemeanor indecent exposure conviction in Arizona. Oregon State Police arrested him after a traffic stop on Interstate 5 near milepost 236.