On July 5, 1977, 50-year-old part-time guard J.T. McAteer was killed on duty at the Lancaster County Prison Camp in South Carolina. McAteer allowed two inmates to use the telephone in the guard shack; one inmate, a 25-year-old serving a short sentence, overpowered McAteer, grabbed his .22 caliber pistol and fired three shots into his chest. McAteer died almost instantly. The inmate then fired at the other prisoner but missed, fled the camp with a woman driving him away, and surrendered about 90 minutes later.

That inmate, who had been incarcerated only a week, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and given a 50-year sentence. Decades later, in 2007, he was released and was arrested again after making death threats at a county building. McAteer was survived by his parents, four sisters and three brothers; his father also worked as a part-time guard at the same prison camp.

Are there former coworkers, neighbors or family members who remember McAteer or who can shed light on the prison camp’s procedures from that period?