On September 27, 1986, Dalpha Lorene Jester, 64, was one of three women brutally murdered in their Lancaster, Texas home. Dalpha, who was blind, was killed alongside her daughter Donna Sue Jester, 37, and their 20-year-old lodger, Laura Lee Owen. All three suffered multiple hatchet wounds to the head and face. The hatchet used in the killings was later found washed and wrapped in a towel in a bathroom sink.

Investigation centered on transient David Martin Long, who had been staying at the Jester house after Donna Jester picked him up while he was hitchhiking. Long was detained on unrelated drunken-driving incidents the night of the murders and in the weeks after; he later gave a dictated and signed confession admitting he attacked Donna first, then Dalpha because she knew his name, and that Laura Owen was killed when she returned and walked in on the assault. He was charged with capital murder and convicted in 1987.

Long later told authorities about other killings, and he asked for the death penalty, saying he feared he would kill again. Anyone who knew Dalpha Lorene Jester or has information about what happened that night is asked to come forward.