Toby Harold Mathews, 29, was shot to death on April 14, 1998, in Corsicana, Texas. He was found lying on the road after a passerby called 911 reporting gunshots; officers determined he had been shot multiple times, including once in the left temple, and seven 9mm shells were recovered near the body.

Toby had been living in Corsicana with Cynthia Cindy Darlene Phillips and her two daughters after meeting her while working as a mechanic in Lamar, Colorado. On the day he died he had gone to a local Kmart to pick up cold medicine for one of the children and did not return; Cindy sent their roommate Richard Rick Leo Boyd to check on him. Rick returned saying Toby had died in a car accident, but police later informed Cindy that Toby had been murdered. Friends from Colorado told police Cindy had previously separated from an estranged husband, Ron Phillips.

Cindy was arrested and charged in connection with Toby’s death; investigators linked the killing to an alleged motive of collecting a $250,000 life insurance payout and associated her with the deaths of two other men. Anyone who knew Toby, Cindy, Rick, or their time in Colorado or Corsicana and has information is asked to come forward.