Marshal Marvin Eugene Richie, 49, was killed on Wednesday, June 29, 1977, after responding to help two men with a flat tire near Magazine, Arkansas. Those two men, later identified as escaped convicts, overpowered him, handcuffed him and forced him into the trunk of his patrol car.

The fugitives drove to the Ashley Creek Park campground, where two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers park rangers approached the official vehicle. The escapees ambushed the rangers, taking one ranger and Marshal Richie into the trunk; before closing it, one of the fugitives shot Richie in the head, killing him instantly, and also shot a ranger in the chest. The wounded ranger in the trunk survived; another ranger who had been abducted was later murdered.

The killings set off a large manhunt that led to the capture of the two suspects.