On the evening of May 25, 1994, in Brockton, Massachusetts, 25-year-old Kepler Desir was shot in the head and killed during what investigators describe as a planned armed robbery. The same attack instantly killed Manuel Araujo and left his brother Carlos Araujo with a gunshot wound to the head from which he survived.

Christian wanted drugs but had no money and Desir refused to lend him any. Later, Russell Horton arrived at Christian’s apartment; Christian took a handgun from under a couch before they left. That night Horton and Christian met with the Araujo brothers and Desir. Under Horton’s direction, Manuel Araujo drove them to a school parking lot, where Horton shot all three men. Christian was reportedly armed but did not fire.

Frederick Christian was later convicted as a joint venturer in the armed robbery and received two concurrent life terms without parole for the resulting first-degree murder convictions. The record identifies Russell Horton as the person who shot Desir and the Araujo brothers.