Late summer 1982 ended in a devastating mass killing in Marrero, Louisiana. On August 30, four-year-old Shantel Marie Osborne was among five members of a single family murdered: her mother Sheila Thomas, a Jefferson Parish Deputy Sheriff; her father Carl Osborne; and her maternal grandparents, Myrtle and Owen Griffin. The attacks were described as the culmination of a volatile, abusive relationship.

Authorities identified Leslie Lowenfield, who had moved to the New Orleans area from Guyana the year before and had been involved with Sheila Thomas, as the sole perpetrator. He was arrested and later indicted on charges in the multiple homicides that took Shantel’s life.

What details about Shantel or the family’s final day might help explain how this violence escalated?