On a cold day in December 1980, 35-year-old New York State Police Investigator Robert Van Hall was killed in the line of duty in Corning, New York. Van Hall, assigned to Troop E Narco Squad, was riding in an unmarked patrol car with Investigator William Gorenflo while they prepared to arrest brothers Joseph and Larry Comfort on drug-trafficking charges. During the attempted arrest on East Market Street the Comforts opened fire with a shotgun; Van Hall, seated in the passenger seat, was struck and fatally wounded, and Gorenflo was seriously injured.

Both brothers were taken into custody and prosecuted. Joseph Comfort was convicted of murder and received a life sentence; reports say Larry Comfort was initially convicted of second-degree murder but that conviction was overturned in 1985, and he was later resentenced on drug charges and served a lengthy term before parole. Van Hall, a Vietnam War veteran, left a wife and a 14-year-old daughter.

Did anyone in Corning at the time remember the arrest or the officers involved and have additional details to share?