The Cline Falls axe attack is an unsolved case where someone tried to hurt others. It happened on the evening of June 22, 1977, at Cline Falls State Park in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The victims were two female college students, Terri Jentz and her roommate, Avra Goldman, who were on a biking trip across the country along the Trans America Trail.

Both women chose to stay overnight near the Deschutes River at the park near Redmond. During the night, a vehicle drove over their tent, causing injuries to both women. The driver of the vehicle left the car and attacked the women with an axe. Both women survived the attack, but they suffered serious injuries. The person who attacked them has never been identified.

Timeline

In the summer of 1977, 19-year-old Terri Jentz from Western Springs, Illinois, and her roommate, 20-year-old Avra Goldman from Wellesley, Massachusetts, were both students at Yale University. They decided to bike across the United States on the newly opened Trans America Trail. Their journey began in Astoria, Oregon, and they traveled east through the state. On June 22, they stopped at Cline Falls State Park in rural Deschutes County to camp overnight near the river.

Jentz later said she felt uneasy about the location and believed both women sensed they were being watched. She described a shared feeling of danger.

Around 11:30 p.m., while both women were sleeping in their tent, they were awakened by the sound of a truck arriving at their campsite. At first, Jentz thought the vehicle was driven by teenagers. However, the truck drove over their tent, pinning Jentz to the ground and causing serious injuries, including broken arms, a leg, a collarbone, ribs, and a crushed lung. A man then exited the truck with an axe and struck Goldman in the head multiple times. Jentz recalled looking up at the man and begging him to leave them alone. The man brought the axe down slowly, and Jentz grabbed the blade above her heart before he pulled it back.

After Jentz pleaded with him, the man returned to his truck and drove away. Though badly hurt, Jentz managed to walk to a nearby road, where she was found by Bill Penhollow and Darlene Gervais, two teenagers passing by. Gervais described Jentz as covered in blood. Penhollow and Gervais returned to the campsite to help Goldman, who was also severely injured. They saw headlights approaching but assumed it was the attacker returning. The vehicle, however, drove away.

Police arrived at the campsite after midnight on June 23 and examined the scene. Officers noted tire marks in the dirt, suggesting the truck had two bald rear tires, 6 inches wide, and one possibly bald front tire with significant tread. Both Jentz and Goldman were taken to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, where Goldman had a nine-hour emergency brain surgery.

Detectives could not get a clear description of the attacker from the victims. Goldman, who suffered severe brain trauma, remembered nothing. Jentz, who was conscious, described the man as physically fit and a "young cowboy" based on his clothing and appearance.

In the weeks after the attack, a local woman in Redmond told authorities that the attacker might be a 17-year-old named Richard "Dick" Damm. Detectives interviewed Damm, who had fought with his girlfriend, Janey Fraley, around the time of the attack. However, Damm never confirmed where he was on June 22. Fraley denied they fought on that day but admitted they often argued. A polygraph test showed Damm was deceptive, but the results were questioned because he was under the influence of methamphetamine during the test. Analysts later confirmed he showed deception in both tests.

Fraley later told police that Damm changed his truck’s tires after the attack and removed a toolbox from the truck bed. She also admitted Damm had been abusive during their relationship.

Another suspect was Richard Wayne "Bud" Godwin, a convicted child rapist and murderer. Godwin had been imprisoned for killing a five-year-old child and using the child’s skull as a candle holder. On the night of the attack, a female relative of Godwin’s, with whom he had allegedly had a sexual relationship, may have been at the park. However, Jentz said Godwin did not look like the man she remembered.

Both Jentz and Goldman survived their injuries. Goldman, however, had vision problems due to her head trauma. In September 1977, Goldman’s parents donated $3,000 to St. Charles Medical Center for critical-care equipment in honor of Penhollow and Gervais, who helped save the women.

In 2006, Jentz published a book titled Strange Piece of Paradise, detailing her life after the attack. While researching, she found that official records of the case, including interviews and crime scene photos, had been lost.

Ghosts of Highway 20 – Details on other crimes, such as rapes, homicides, and attempted murders, that occurred along the same route during a similar time period.