Mary Wilfong, 62, was attacked outside her Henrico County apartment late on September 30, 1979, after returning from work as a private nurse. Neighbors reported hearing her scream; she was found on the building steps clutching the key she had been about to use and was taken to a hospital where a medical examiner attributed her death to a severe head wound consistent with a blunt-force blow. Police initially called it an apparent robbery, noting the assailants ransacked her apartment after the attack.

Investigators later linked Wilfong’s killing to the Briley gang — brothers Linwood, James J.B. and Anthony Briley, plus an accomplice, Duncan Eric Meekins — who were blamed for a months-long wave of murders, rapes and robberies around Richmond that year. Meekins agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and provided testimony that authorities say tied multiple crimes together, including Wilfong’s. Linwood and J.B. were later convicted on multiple murder charges and sentenced to death for other killings in the spree; Anthony received life plus additional time, and Meekins avoided the death penalty after cooperating and received life with extra years.