PORTLAND, Oregon – In the predawn darkness of June 10, 2016, a desperate call crackled through the dispatch center at 2:59 a. m. , a call that would haunt even the most hardened emergency responders.
The voice on the line belonged to 34-year-old Anastasia “Annie” Hester, a mother, a daughter, and a friend, crying out for help after a savage attack inside her own apartment on the 100 block of Southwest Easterman Parkway. The 911 operator could barely grasp her words as Annie, gasping for breath, could not identify her assailant or describe what had happened. The call lasted just six minutes before paramedics and police raced to the scene, rushing her to the hospital.
But her injuries were catastrophic, too severe and too numerous to overcome. Annie Hester was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the emergency ward, leaving behind a grieving community and a case that would unravel into a chilling web of betrayal, obsession, and prolonged torture.
Annie Hester had spent her entire life in Gresham, Oregon, a tight-knit community where she was known as a reliable, assertive, and hardworking soul. After losing her father as a teenager, she grew exceptionally close to her mother and stepfather, taking on a natural leadership role with her siblings and in every job she held. She was a passionate gamer, particularly fond of role-playing games, and often frequented local gaming shops, festivals, and camps.
It was at one of these shops that she reconnected with Matthew Hester, a man she had first met in 1999 but who had since married someone else. Now divorced, Matt and Annie saw their chance meeting as a sign. They began dating, and by 2008, they were married.
Three years later, they welcomed a daughter, Alice, into the world. But the marriage soon crumbled after Matt had an 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇, the same betrayal that had ended his first marriage. Annie tried to salvage the relationship, but trust was shattered, and she filed for divorce.
Life became a struggle as she moved with Alice into a cramped one-bedroom apartment, sleeping on the living room couch while her daughter took the bedroom. She worked tirelessly at an after-school program and a downtown call center, climbing into management and taking every overtime shift she could grab. Child support was erratic as Matt frequently lost jobs, but Annie remained resilient, even creative, crafting personalized Christmas ornaments each year and staging adorable photo shoots with Alice for holiday cards.
On weekends when Matt had custody, she painted faces at local events to earn extra cash. Despite the tensions, Annie and Matt maintained a surface-level amicability, even after Matt married again, this time to Angela McRae. They often met for dinners and playdates with Angela’s children, but behind the scenes, dark currents were already swirling.
As detectives swarmed the scene at East Park Apartments, they faced a gruesome tableau. Annie had been stabbed over 60 times in the chest and head, with an attempt made to decapitate her. A cryptic carving of “V X V” had been slashed into her shoulder, a symbol police could not decipher, leaving them to wonder if it was a gang sign or a deliberate red herring.
Three bloody knives were found on the carpet—two from Annie’s own kitchen knife block and one pocketknife—plus bloody shoe prints leading out the front door. The front door had been unlocked when officers arrived, but investigators believed the killer had pried off a window-mounted air conditioning unit in Alice’s bedroom and pushed a cinder block through to gain entry. Nothing of value was stolen, ruling out robbery.
Blood spatter analysis revealed that Annie had likely been asleep when the attack began, and she fought desperately toward the front door, but never made it. The brutality was almost unfathomable, and the timeline stretched over nearly four hours, from sounds first heard by neighbors around 11:15 p. m.
to her final 911 call at 3 a. m. Multiple neighbors reported hearing screams, thuds, shouting, and door-slamming, but only Annie dialed for help, a chilling reality that left law enforcement deeply frustrated.
One neighbor even admitted they turned up their television to drown out the noise. The prolonged attack was described by detectives as nothing short of torture, and the killer was still on the loose, sending fear through the Springwater Corridor community, where search and rescue teams and volunteers combed the dense woods for any clue.
Naturally, investigators turned their attention to Matt Hester, the ex-husband. When they informed him of Annie’s death and asked him and his new wife Angela to come to the station, Matt’s demeanor was disconcerting. He expressed mostly indifference toward Annie, saying they kept their personal lives separate.
He admitted to 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 on her but claimed they had an open relationship, with Annie also exploring polyamory, including a relationship with a couple she met at a pirate role-playing event. However, the couple was cleared of any involvement. Matt appeared in poor health, using a cane to walk, and his physical condition seemed inconsistent with the prolonged, violent struggle.
He willingly showed detectives his body, revealing no marks, and his shoe size did not match the prints at the scene. He and Angela provided alibis, saying they had gone to bed early with their children and two roommates, including Angela’s friend Karina, who slept in the garage. Angela insisted she was a light sleeper and would have woken if Matt had left.
They handed over their phones and were released. But the more police dug into their relationship with Annie, the more cracks appeared. Just a month before her murder, a judge had awarded Annie full custody of Alice and ordered Matt to pay over $113,000 in backdated child support and nearly $30,000 in legal fees.
Neither Matt nor Angela was working, yet they lived in a house rented out in pieces to others, including Angela’s ex-husband Aaron. Angela had a history of obsessive behavior, including diagnosing her own children with various disabilities to secure benefits, and she had called Child Protective Services on Annie with baseless neglect claims, which were immediately dismissed. The motive was clear: custody, jealousy, and money.
Yet physical evidence remained elusive.
Surveillance on Matt and Angela revealed stunning contradictions. Matt was seen walking without his cane, lugging heavy items from stores and doing gardening, a far cry from the frail man at the station. A neighbor’s camera also showed someone leaving their home before 1 p.
m. on the day of the murder, driving toward Annie’s apartment. But the roommate Karina claimed she heard nothing, raising suspicions of a cover-up.
The case went cold for over a year, with Annie’s family repeatedly pleading for help. “I really hoped we’d have something before now,” her mother said. “They took somebody out of this world that deserved to be here.
She had a little girl that needed her. I don’t know how the hell they could live with themselves.” But in October 2017, the break came.
DNA testing on the knives found at the scene matched Angela McRae-Hester. She was arrested in Pocatello, Idaho, and charged with two counts of aggravated murder and first-degree burglary, carrying a potential death penalty. During her arrest, she screamed, “You’re saying I killed her?
Yeah, okay. I would like a lawyer. All because I was at home!”
She pleaded not guilty. Matt initially denied any knowledge, but under relentless interrogation, he admitted Angela had come home covered in blood that morning. He helped her shower and clean up, claiming he was just trying to calm her down.
He also confessed to having conversations with Angela about killing Annie but said no plan was ever made. He pointed fingers at Angela’s ex-husband Aaron, who was questioned but never charged. Despite these admissions, Matt was only charged with misdemeanor resisting and obstruction, which were later dropped.
He returned to his life while Angela languished in jail.
The breakthrough in evidence came when investigators traced bloody shoe prints at the scene to a pair of brown boots purchased by Angela. Using her Google Maps data, they found she had driven 35 miles to Mount Hood National Forest on a snowy day three days after the murder. Incredibly, the boot was found wedged under a fallen tree near the road, and the tread pattern was a perfect match.
Divers also recovered a plastic bag containing clothes belonging to Angela. With this evidence, the case against her solidified. In November 2020, Angela changed her plea to guilty on second-degree murder charges, after the death penalty was removed as an option.
She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Matt, meanwhile, faced justice in 2021, pleading guilty to solicitation to commit murder and hindering prosecution. He received just 56 months in prison, a sentence that sparked outrage but was seen by prosecutors as a necessary step to potentially build a future conspiracy case.
He remains under scrutiny, and the investigation into Aaron continues. Angela and Matt have since divorced, and Angela refuses to discuss the case, telling visitors, “That’s between me and God.” Annie’s daughter Alice was adopted by Annie’s mother, who now raises her in a home filled with the love and creativity that defined Annie’s life.
Annie’s legacy of relentless positivity, her work ethic, and her fierce determination to fight for her daughter live on, a stark contrast to the torturous night that ended her life. The community still remembers her, and her family pleads for anyone with information to come forward. This case, while partially closed, continues to hold dark secrets, and the pursuit of full justice for Annie Hester is far from over.
