New suspect to be named in KFC murders

RUSK COUNTY – In the 1983 KFC murder case, which resulted in the deaths of five people, Rusk County authorities are getting ready to name a third suspect. Our news partners at KETK report that Mary Tyler, Opie Hughes, Joey Johnson, David Maxwell, and Monty Landers were kidnapped from a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore on September 23, 1983. They were then driven to a remote oil field in Rusk County, where they were shot and killed.

Within a week, authorities named Romeo Pinkerton and Darnell Hartsfield as suspects. But it was not until 2005 that indictments were returned, as DNA evidence from the scene connected both men to it. Hartsfield died in prison in 2023, and Pinkerton is currently serving a life sentence.

Unidentified biological material was also discovered on one victim’s pants, according to court documents from the time. With the technology available at the time, lab technicians were able to create a DNA profile that pointed to an unidentified man of African descent, but the person could not be identified.

Investigators have been able to link that unidentified profile to a particular person decades later thanks to additional developments in forensic science. The identity of the man will be revealed Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the Henderson 4th Judicial District Courtroom, according to Rusk County District Attorney Michael Jimerson.

Jimerson will discuss what is known about the last suspect, who will be identified by lead prosecutor Lisa Tanner. This could give investigators and the victims’ families the long-needed clarity they have been seeking in the case for decades.