In late January 2015, a family in the Woodstream Trail neighborhood of LaGrange, Georgia, was found murdered inside their home. Christie Lee, 33, a former correctional officer, was discovered dead on the evening of January 31 after a welfare check prompted by her father missing work. Also found dead were Christie’s 16-year-old daughter Bailey Burtron; her parents, William Burtron, 69, and Sheila Burtron, 68; and an 18-year-old family friend, Iiaonna Green, who had been living with them.

Investigators determined that at least four victims, including Christie, had been shot; Bailey Burtron was asphyxiated. Attention quickly turned to Christie’s husband, 26-year-old Thomas Jesse Lee, who was not at the house when the bodies were found. He was located days later at a bus station in Tupelo, Mississippi, and returned to Georgia.

A grand jury indicted Thomas Lee on multiple felonies, including five counts of malice murder; he later pleaded guilty but mentally ill and received life without parole. Investigators reported a possible financial motive and escalating household tensions; Lee told investigators he intended to kill himself, then blacked out and could not recall events after being interrupted by his stepdaughter.

Did anyone in the LaGrange area know this family or have information about tensions in the household that could shed light on what led to such a violent outcome?