On May 7, 1976, Frank Columbo, 43, his wife Mary Columbo, 41, and their 13-year-old son Michael were found dead in their Elk Grove home. Frank and Mary had been shot. Michael had been bludgeoned with a bowling trophy and stabbed nearly 100 times with scissors. The killings were described as brutal and prompted an intensive investigation by Elk Grove Village police.

Investigators focused on the couple’s 19-year-old daughter Patricia Columbo and her 39-year-old boyfriend Frank DeLuca. Patricia had left the family home two years earlier to live with DeLuca. The alleged motive was inheritance of the family estate, though Patricia reportedly had been written out of her parents’ wills years earlier. DeLuca was seen washing and burning bloodstained clothes the day after the murders and allegedly threatened employees to keep them silent. While jailed, he attempted to have witnesses killed through a cellmate; another inmate warned police and the plan was foiled.

Patricia Columbo and Frank DeLuca were arrested ten days after the murders and later convicted on three counts of murder, receiving lengthy prison terms plus additional sentences for conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder. Does anyone have detailed memories of the family or the investigation in Elk Grove in 1976?