On Friday, March 20, 1981, Pickens County authorities found 50-year-old Avilla R. Romine and her husband, 48-year-old Roy Lee Romine, dead in their home. Roy Lee was in the kitchen with a gunshot wound to the back; Avilla was found in a bedroom with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Concern began when Avilla didn’t show up for her carpool and friends, unable to reach her, asked a local reverend to check the house.

Investigators focused on the couple’s son, Larry Romine. Reports say he’d been having personal troubles, had separated from his wife, and had argued with his father the weekend before the killings. Two 16 gauge shotgun waddings recovered at the scene were matched to a shotgun owned by Larry’s female companion. Avilla’s paycheck and purse were taken; the paycheck was later found in Larry’s possession and remnants of the purse were recovered from a trash barrel where he had been seen burning box contents.

Authorities charged Larry with the murders and the armed robbery of his mother. A jury later convicted him on all counts; he was sentenced to death in April 1982. The case then proceeded through multiple appeals and resentencing proceedings.

Did anyone in the area remember Avilla or Roy Romine, or have information about the events around March 20, 1981?