Corporal Ripley E. Marston Sr., 68, was the first victim in a violent rampage that began in Shenandoah County, Virginia, on a cold February day in 1989. Neighbors say his death came at the hands of the nearby resident Dennis Wayne Eaton, who then murdered at least two others and stole Marston’s car to flee the scene.

After taking Marston’s vehicle, Eaton shot and killed Walter Noonie Custer Jr., a friend of Eaton’s girlfriend, and later opened fire on State Trooper Jerry Hines on Interstate 81, fatally wounding the trooper. Eaton’s flight ended after a crash in Salem, Virginia, where his girlfriend Judy McDonald was also found shot. Eaton attempted suicide, survived, and was taken into custody the same day.

Eaton was convicted of the murders of Marston, Custer and McDonald and received three life sentences; for the killing of Trooper Hines he was sentenced to death, and was executed on June 18, 1998. If anyone knew Ripley Marston or saw unusual activity in that neighborhood around February 1989, please share what you remember.