Esther Sophia Wendler Sepmeyer, an 83-year-old white woman, was found dead on July 13, 1979, in her rural Madison County farmhouse in Caseyville, Illinois. Her grandson, Rodney Sepmeyer, discovered her body; she had a fatal bullet wound to the right side of her face and the bedroom and kitchen were in disarray, consistent with a struggle. A new Remington semi-automatic .22-caliber rifle, a television, a stereo turntable, a lawn mower, and a radio were reported missing.

Investigation led to the arrests of Ricky Holman and Girvies Davis; fingerprints on a mirror and a metal cabinet at the scene matched Holman, and stolen items from Esther’s home were found in Davis’s possession. Both men made statements implicating the other and said Esther was shot with her own rifle. Holman and Davis were tried jointly; Holman received life imprisonment and appealed, but the conviction was upheld on appeal.

A later civil suit by the estate attempted to recover potential settlement funds related to Holman, producing a contested procedural history that ultimately reached the Illinois Supreme Court. Does anyone have additional information about Esther’s life in Caseyville or memories of the case from 1979?