In the late morning of August 23, 2004, 30-year-old John Falcone was found fatally shot in the rear yard of a property at 24 Farrington Street in Brockton, Massachusetts. Neighbors reported hearing two men arguing behind the residence shortly before gunfire; one nearby witness was a 14-year-old who heard the disturbance from a bedroom window.

Investigators traced the encounter to a planned meeting that morning for a drug transaction. The inquiry focused on Lewis Franklin, described as significantly taller than Falcone. Testimony at trial included accounts from people who were near the scene and those who had contact with Franklin before and after the shooting.

Franklin was arrested, charged with murder, and convicted of murder in the first degree on a deliberate premeditation theory; that conviction was later upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.