On the evening of December 23, 1979, 67-year-old Joseph Hoffman was shot and killed while walking from St. Michael’s Church to the rectory in Chester, Pennsylvania. He had been carrying a tin box with refreshment-sale funds; Father William Benonis carried the bingo proceeds in a case. As the two men neared the rectory, assailants approached. One attacker pressed a shotgun into Father Benonis’s stomach; the money case was tossed into nearby hedges during the struggle. One assailant fled; the other fired at close range, striking Hoffman in the left chest and shoulder. Hoffman was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

Witnesses reported three African American males running to a late 1960s Cadillac with a white top and temporary tags. The abandoned car contained a temporary registration slip in the name John W. Davis Jr. Forensic testing later matched Davis’s fingerprints to the vehicle and to the recovered shotgun, which ballistics tied to the killing. John W. Davis Jr. surrendered on January 14, 1980, and during questioning implicated accomplices named Brown, Bannister, and Slim Lee; Davis was convicted of first-degree murder, two counts of robbery, and criminal conspiracy and received a life sentence.

Does anyone remember the church or neighborhood that night or have information about the other named accomplices?