Officer James William Nunalee Sr., age 24, was ambushed and killed in Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 4, 1978. He was fatally shot 21 times with a semi-automatic rifle by two masked men as he exited a convenience store; his service revolver was taken at the scene. Nunalee, a white male and member of the Wilmington Police Department, was survived by his wife and son.

Early investigation focused on a husband-and-wife team suspected in the robbery and murder, but investigators lacked sufficient evidence at the time to arrest them. Decades later, the suspects’ son — then serving a prison term for unrelated charges — confessed and provided information that, together with other long-collected evidence, led police to close the case. Investigators say the husband was believed to have fired the shots while the wife was present but did not shoot.

Does anyone have memories of Officer Nunalee, the convenience store, or the area around Wilmington in April 1978 that could add detail to the record?