On the evening of October 21, 1974, author Donald Goines, 37, and his common-law wife Shirley Sailor were found shot to death in their Highland Park, Michigan, apartment after police received an anonymous phone call. Goines’ body was in the living room and Sailor’s in the kitchen; both sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Their two young children were in the home and were found unharmed.

No arrests were made and the double homicide remains unsolved. Reports say two gunmen were reportedly involved but their identities have never been confirmed. Speculation about motive has focused on two lines: retaliation tied to Goines’ gritty urban fiction, and a drug-related debt connected to his long-standing heroin addiction.

A documentary in production has hired a private investigator and offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.