Detective James David Mandrell, 44, of the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office was killed during an undercover cattle-rustling sting on a summer morning in 1988. The operation led him and an informant to a barn in Robertson County near the Kentucky border.

The informant ran toward a nearby cornfield and was shot and killed by the shooter’s older brother. The two brothers allegedly stole the money Mandrell had brought for the cattle purchase. Investigators recovered a 30-06 rifle and a .32 caliber pistol belonging to the suspects’ father from the family home, and both brothers were charged with two counts of murder. The older brother was convicted and received two life sentences.

Anyone with memories of the barn, the operation, or the community in Robertson County in 1988 is asked to share information or recollections that might shed further light on this ambush.