Valerie McDonald, 37, was fatally shot in the head on June 23, 1987, outside her apartment building at 6100 N. Winthrop Avenue in Chicago. She was outside looking for her keys when a man later identified as Eddie Williams shot her; her husband Louia McDonald and their two children, then 7 and 16, witnessed the attack.

Investigators say the killing grew out of a lovers triangle. Geraldine Smith, who had been having an affair with Louia McDonald, allegedly arranged the murder after Louia refused to divorce his wife and marry Smith. Smith purportedly conspired with Marva Golden to find a gunman; Williams was paid $400 by Smith and fled the scene in a car that resembled one owned by Smith.

Police identified and arrested the people named in the plot. Charges included murder and conspiracy against Smith, and arrests also were made of Williams and Golden; Smith failed a polygraph during the investigation and was convicted. What details about the planning or the roles of others remain unclear to readers?