Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced on Apr. 21 that Marcus Sanfratello, age 73, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the homicide of Teresa Peroni, a case dating back to 1983. Sanfratello pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree in Josephine County Circuit Court and will serve at least ten years under the plea agreement.
Rayfield said, “For Teresa Peroni’s family, this has been a 43-year wait for an answer they never should have had to wait for. Cases like this remind us of why we don’t give up. It doesn’t matter how many years have passed – if someone took a life, we’re going to keep working until we can hold them accountable.”
The case began when Peroni was reported missing at age 27 after attending a party in Selma and was last seen walking with Sanfratello, her boyfriend at the time. Initial investigations by local authorities did not result in charges due to insufficient evidence. In 1997, a human skull was found on private property near where she disappeared.
In 2024, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office reopened the investigation with support from state and county agencies. Investigators re-interviewed witnesses and used new DNA evidence along with modern forensic techniques. On June 27, 2025, a grand jury indicted Sanfratello for Murder in the Second Degree; he was arrested by Chico Police and extradited from California.
The Oregon Department of Justice Criminal Division prosecuted the case with Senior Assistant Attorneys General John Casalino and Brad Kalbaugh leading efforts alongside Special Agent Brendan McGuire. The department credited contributions from multiple law enforcement partners as crucial to resolving this decades-old case.
