Paul C. McKasty was a 24-year-old producer and engineer from Queens whose work with the E-mu SP-1200 sampler helped shape East Coast hip-hop. On the night of July 17, 1989, after a late studio session he was dropped off at the Rosedale, Queens home he shared with his mother and brother. Sometime overnight an intruder or intruders entered the house and shot McKasty multiple times in the head and neck while he slept in his basement bedroom; his brother found the body the next morning.

Investigators pursued at least two leads. A former associate was briefly a suspect but charges were dropped for lack of evidence. After an America’s Most Wanted segment in February 1990, an eyewitness named Derrick Little Shine Blair as someone seen leaving the residence; Blair was arrested in North Carolina but no conviction followed. The case grew cold and remains unsolved.

Anyone who knew Paul, his circle in Queens, or has information about that night is asked to come forward.