Reverend John Jay Jackson, 35, was assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Jackson, Tennessee. On the evening of Thursday, May 14, 1981, he was killed inside the church rectory. An autopsy showed a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his right shoulder and a nonfatal gunshot wound to his left shoulder; his body also showed scrapes and head lacerations consistent with being struck by a blunt object, possibly a gun.

The scene suggested a burglary gone wrong. A sliding glass door to the rectory had been shattered, drawers were pulled out with contents scattered, Reverend Jackson’s pockets were turned out and coins were strewn on the floor. Investigators found tennis shoe footprints leading away from the rectory.

Authorities identified the suspect as Laron Ronald Williams, an escaped prisoner who had also killed a Memphis police lieutenant days earlier. Williams was captured after a multi-day manhunt, charged with first-degree murder in both deaths, convicted in separate trials and sentenced to death; he was later killed on death row in 1985.

Mary’s in May 1981?