Carl Milton Griffith Sr. was 72 when he was shot and killed in Portage, Indiana, on November 1, 2012. A US Marine Corps veteran and former over-the-road truck driver, Griffith worked at a local towing company where management disputes figured prominently in the case.

Investigators described the killing as a murder-for-hire. Authorities alleged that the estranged wife of the company’s incarcerated owner, Sheaurice Major, was unhappy with Griffith’s management and sought someone to carry out a permanent solution. Police say Major hired Dontaye Deandre Singletary; Antoine Gates was reportedly approached first but became unavailable, and Gates’s girlfriend Antoinetta Johnson reportedly introduced Singletary to Major. Johnson was later murdered.

Singletary was tried, convicted of felony murder, and sentenced to 65 years in prison with no probation. Charges against Sheaurice Major were later dropped when the prosecutor concluded the evidence did not directly link her to the killing.