Former nightclub owner is sentenced in murder

PORTLAND - A former Portland nightclub owner was sentenced to 12 years in prison yesterday for the murder of one of his employees, a 21-year-old who disappeared 10 years ago.

Larry Hurwitz pleaded no contest last month in Multnomah County Court to charges he killed Tim Moreau in 1990 to cover up a counterfeit ticket scam at the concert hall Hurwitz owned. Moreau's body has not been found.

Investigators think Hurwitz and his former employee, George Castagnola, killed Moreau in 1990 after Moreau threatened to expose the counterfeit-ticket scam.

In October 1998, police arrested Castagnola and charged him with Moreau's murder. He later agreed to plead guilty and accept a 10-year sentence in exchange for testifying against Hurwitz and helping police find Moreau's body.

Castagnola took police to the Columbia Gorge last year but was unable to direct them to the spot where he helped bury Moreau.