Lacy Milton Hatchell, a 31-year-old white male, was found dead on December 28, 1984, in north Fort Worth’s Summerfield addition. Newspaper deliverers discovered his body face down on a sidewalk across from his home at about 5:30 a.m. He had been shot in the chest and beaten beyond recognition; investigators believed a tire iron or hammer was used. An autopsy documented 62 blunt injuries to his face, head, neck, back and upper extremities. Hatchell’s Volkswagen Rabbit was parked down the street with an apparent bullet dent on the rear driver’s side panel.

Detectives described the attack as unusually brutal and suggested the assailant may have been emotionally invested in the killing, possibly indicating a personal connection to Hatchell. No one has been charged in the case. His sister Candace and brother Kevin Cox have long pushed for answers, and Hatchell’s son Joshua, who was 5 at the time, still remembers his father. Does anyone in the Fort Worth area remember details or sightings from December 1984 that could help this cold case?