Homer Breck Butch King, 27, was shot and killed on August 15, 1987, inside the couple’s home in the 6600 block of Dinner Creek Drive in northwest Harris County. His wife Joanna King, also 27, was shot at the same time; investigators later noted both victims had been shot in the back of the head, a detail that contradicted any claim of self-defense. King was buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Onalaska, Polk County.

The case went cold for years until detectives Roger Wedgeworth and Harry Fikaris of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office cold case squad re-opened the file. Re-interviewing original witnesses produced a new account from a woman who said she had been six years old in 1987 and had accompanied her mother and a man named Gerald McKnight to the Kings’ home, standing outside as the drug-related shooting occurred. That testimony and re-examined evidence led to an indictment in March 2000.

In May 2000, 65-year-old Gerald McKnight pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and received two consecutive life sentences. McKnight had been serving a 22-year federal sentence on drug charges when he was located; prosecutors said the physical evidence contradicted his claim that he shot the couple in self-defense. Did anyone who knew the Kings or the neighborhood in 1987 notice anything unusual around Dinner Creek Drive that summer?