On the evening of October 19, 1974, six people were executed inside the Donna Lee Bakery in New Britain, Connecticut, in what was then the state’s worst mass murder. The victims were bakery owner John Salerni, employee Helen Giansanti, customers Thomas and Anne Dowling, William J. Donohue Jr., and 49-year-old customer Michael P. Kron. Witnesses say the victims were forced into a back room, ordered to lie face down, and shot in the back of the head.

Investigators concluded the crime began as a robbery carried out by two men who entered the bakery. Prosecutors later alleged the motive shifted to murder after one victim recognized one of the perpetrators. That victim was Michael Kron, who was identified as the uncle by marriage of Gary B. Schrager. Two local men were arrested: Ronald F. Tiny Piskorski and Gary B. Schrager. Piskorski was convicted in December 1975 and sentenced to 150 years to life; Schrager pleaded guilty to four of the six murders in late 1976, denied being the triggerman, refused to identify who fired the shots, and was sentenced to 20 years to life.

Does anyone have memories of the bakery, the victims, or details about the case that might shed light on why the robbery became a massacre?