On the morning of January 20, 1974, a house fire on Princeton Drive in New Whiteland, Indiana, revealed a brutal triple homicide. Inside the charred home were 23-year-old Elizabeth Ann Patrick, her husband William, 25, and their infant daughter Jenny Lynn. Investigators concluded the parents had been asphyxiated before the fire was set and the baby died of smoke inhalation. Evidence at the scene indicated a violent struggle and that the blaze had been started intentionally.

Investigators’ inquiries focused on David James Roberts after William Patrick had identified him in a separate theft matter; William had given a deposition on January 15, 1974, implicating Roberts. Witnesses placed a car matching Roberts’ vehicle near the Patrick home shortly before the fire, and a gasoline can traced to Roberts was found among the remains. Roberts was arrested on January 26, 1974, later convicted of murder and arson, and received multiple life sentences; an appeal later vacated the arson sentence and two life terms while leaving three life sentences in place.

Does anyone have memories of the Patrick family or the New Whiteland neighborhood in January 1974 that could add context to this case?