Kentucky Fried Chicken murders

On the evening of September 23, 1983, just before the restaurant closed, armed robbers held up the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore, Texas, USA. The five people in the restaurant at the time (who were either employees or waiting for someone there) were abducted, taken to a nearby field on County Road 232, and each executed with a shot to the back of the head. One of the victims, who was found a short distance from the others, had been raped.

The victims' bodies were discovered by local police and Texas Rangers, and were identified as: David Maxwell (20), Joey Johnson (20), Monty Landers (19), Mary Tyler (37) and Opie Hughes (39).

For 22 years, the case remained unsolved; several people were arrested and one person, James Earl Mankins, Jr., a man with prior drug convictions who was also the son of a state representative, was charged with the murders, but was later released after the beginning of pre-trial proceedings due to a lack of evidence.

Finally, in November 2005, two men (already in prison for other crimes) were arrested and charged: cousins Darnell Hartsfield (44) and Romeo Pinkerton (47). At the time of arrest, Hartsfield was serving a life sentence for aggravated perjury in connection with the case. They were both charged with capital murder, and could have received the death penalty if convicted.

Jury selection in Pinkerton's trial began August 6, 2007 in New Boston and completed on September 27, 2007. Pinkerton's death penalty trial was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on October 15, 2007 at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston. He pleaded guilty to five lesser counts of murder on October 29, 2007 and received five concurrent life sentences as a part of his plea deal.

Hartsfield was convicted at trial in Bryan (Brazos County), Texas (on a change of venue from East Texas due to pre-trial publicity) and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences.

An April 2007 article from the Houston Chronicle details Pinkerton's denial of the crime.[2] Darnell Hartsfield and his cousin, Romeo Pinkerton, were both convicted in 2008.

On February 4, 2010 the Texas Sixth Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of Darnell Hartsfield. It ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the conviction.[3]

DNA evidence taken from Opie Hughes' body – found some distance away from the rest of the victims – indicated she had been sexually assaulted. However, the DNA did not match that of Hartsfield, Pinkerton, Mankins, or any other suspect. This led investigators to the possibility of a third man. Neither of the two convicted felons ever revealed the identity of any accomplice.

As of 2015 the Rangers are still investigating this case and searching for a third person.