The Kentucky Fried Chicken massacre

My first real job was at a Wendy's restaurant in Indianapolis, Indiana. After nine months, I left. I can only say that it was a miserable experience. The term fast-food refers to restaurants like McDonald's and Wendy's. This is because they are in the business of getting food to you fast. Credit cards and debit cards are probably the most commonly used payment methods today. However, plastic was uncommon in the 1980s. Almost everyone paid in cash.

Most people knew this. A crook seeking a fast score would target fast-food restaurants. In 1978, one of the deadliest fast-food robberies and murders occurred at the Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana. The victims were Jayne Friedt, 20; Daniel Davis, 16; Mark Flemmonds, 16; and Ruth Ellen Shelton, 18. The murder occurred nearly 50 years ago and remains unsolved.

Several years later, a similar crime would be committed in Kilgore, Texas. While the Burger Chef murders will never be forgotten in Indiana, the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) massacre will never be forgotten in Kilgore. However, the KFC story would have a different ending.

On September 23, 1983, a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore, Texas, was closing down for the evening. Five people were still inside. Their names were David Maxwell, 20; Joey Johnson, 20; Monty Landers, 19; Mary Tyler, 37; and Opie Hughes, 39. Other than Landers, the remaining four were employees. Landers had stopped in to visit friends Maxwell and Johnson.

Tyler's daughter arrived at the restaurant to pick up her mother, but the restaurant was empty. The five people who were inside mysteriously disappeared. Her daughter contacted law enforcement about her mother. They would not be missing for long. On the following day, law enforcement was called to an empty oil field near Country Road 232. Five bodies were found. There were already swarms of flies on the bodies.

They were identified as the four missing KFC employees and a friend of two of the victims. They were all shot to death. Four bodies were together, but Tyler's had been dragged away. An investigation by law enforcement revealed that she had been sexually assaulted.

Law enforcement learned that the nightly numbers had been called into headquarters. Following the call, three men robbed the store of $3000 and kidnapped the five victims. They were then executed in a dark oilfield. Over twenty years would pass before the killers would be caught.

Evidence was scarce. There was a fingernail clipping and some spilled blood on a napkin. The evidence was sent to a lab for testing.

The killers had covered their tracks and vanish into the night like ghosts. Despite the case going cold, law enforcement periodically reviewed the file to see if they could find the killers. Law enforcement arrested a man named James Earl Mankins Junior and charged him with the killings. Ultimately, the charges were dropped. Once again, the case went cold.

This changed in November 2005 when DNA evidence identified two cousins named Darnell Hartsfield and Romeo Pinkerton. Hartsfield was already serving time for another crime. DNA found on the bloody napkin belonged to Hartsfield.

DNA evidence would lead to Hartsfield and Pinkerton being charged with the KFC massacre. During the trial, it was revealed that the cousins and an unidentified accomplice intended to rob the KFC and kill everyone inside. Although the cousins denied killing anyone, both men received life sentences. In 2007, Pinkerton pleaded guilty while Hartsfield was convicted in 2008.

Unfortunately, one killer escaped justice. According to the convicted cousins, their accomplice shot the victims and raped Tyler. According to them, that is why their DNA was not found on Tyler's body. Both Pinkerton and Hartsfield have refused to identify their accomplice.

Pinkerton will be up for parole in May 2024 and Hatsfield will be up for parole in January 2023, which is coming up soon. Hopefully, these two killers will never again see life outside prison.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.