On May 20, 1977, the partially decomposed body of 54-year-old Helen Fine was found inside her car in Maryville, Tennessee, by a telephone technician called to the residence. That discovery led to the finding of her 67-year-old husband, Maynard Fine, inside their home. Both had been shot multiple times and were believed to have been dead about a week when discovered.

The double killing went unresolved for decades. Investigators pursued leads, evidence was analyzed, and the couple’s son, Michael Keith Fine, was treated as a person of interest early on, but no arrests were made and the case remained cold for 46 years. The investigation was reopened in May 2021 after a family member’s inquiry and advances in forensic testing, and a firearm recovered in a landfill a year after the murders was later tied to the case.

In November 2023 a grand jury indicted then 80-year-old Michael Keith Fine on two counts of first-degree murder and he was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama. In August 2025 a Blount County judge dismissed the indictment on grounds that the passage of time and the unavailability of many witnesses would prevent a fair trial; the defense had also stated Michael Keith Fine was suffering from dementia and unfit to care for himself. Does anyone have memories or information about the Fines from the Maryville community that could shed light on what happened?