Estelle Stanfill Akeman, 58, was murdered on November 10, 1973, in Ridgetop, Tennessee. She and her husband David Stringbean Akeman were found slain in their home by neighbor and fellow Opry performer Louis Marshall Grandpa Jones. The couple were well known in the country music community and lived modestly.

Investigators concluded two cousins, John A. Brown and Marvin Douglas Brown, both 23 at the time, carried out the killings after hearing rumors the Akemans kept large amounts of cash. The Browns waited for the couple to return from a Grand Ole Opry show and then attacked; Estelle was shot in the back of the head as she ran and begged for her life. A significant amount of money was later found hidden in the Akeman home.

Both men were arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Marvin Douglas Brown died of natural causes in custody in 2003; John A. Brown was released on parole in 2014.