The case centers on 22-year-old Vito Y. Riservato, who was found dead in Cadiz, Kentucky, on October 26, 2014, alongside three members of the Champion family: Lindsey Champion, her wife Joy, and their daughter Emily. Early reports described Riservato as the lone gunman who killed the family and then died by suicide. The sole survivor, Ryan Champion, initially told police of a home invasion and claimed he killed Riservato in self-defense.

Investigators later uncovered that Riservato had known Ryan Champion through work and had recently been introduced to the family. Evidence and witness statements indicated the killings were part of a planned murder-for-hire: Ryan allegedly enlisted Riservato to kill his parents and sister, then killed Riservato to avoid paying him and to silence him. A friend of Riservato reported that Riservato had been offered money to commit a murder.

Ryan Champion was arrested October 31, 2014, charged with capital murder and kidnapping, later pleading guilty to four counts of murder and one count of kidnapping and receiving four life terms without parole. Ann Plotkin also pleaded guilty to complicity to murder for assisting Champion. Did anyone in the Cadiz area know Riservato or notice him around the Champion household before October 26, 2014?