On October 5, 1979, 59-year-old Charles Wilburn Garner, an African American man, was murdered in Richmond, Virginia, inside the home of his 75-year-old landlord, Blanche Page. Both victims were killed in a violent attack at Page’s residence. Garner suffered an especially brutal assault: he was beaten and stabbed with multiple weapons, including a baseball bat, five knives, a pair of scissors, and a fork; the scissors and fork were left embedded in his back. Page was bludgeoned to death during the same incident.

Authorities later identified the assailants as Linwood, James, and Anthony Briley, together with an accomplice, Duncan Meekins. The four were connected to a larger 1979 crime spree in Richmond that included murder, rape, and robbery. Linwood and James Briley were sentenced to death; Anthony Briley received multiple life sentences. Meekins avoided execution by cooperating with investigators and is serving a life term.

Did anyone in Richmond at the time know Charles Garner or have information about that October 5 attack?