Alphonse Manning Jr., 23, was killed on August 7, 1977, in the parking lot of East Towne Mall in Madison, Wisconsin, after an encounter in the lot escalated into gunfire. He was with his companion Toni Schwenn when a man in another car sounded his horn; witnesses say Manning exited his vehicle and approached. The shooter fired a .357 Magnum from inside his car, shot Manning, then exited and fired again; Schwenn was shot through the Toronado’s window and later also died. Manning called for help before he died.

The killings went unsolved for years. Investigators later identified Joseph Paul Franklin as the gunman after he gave a recorded confession in 1984 while imprisoned elsewhere; detectives corroborated parts of his account with ballistics, a stolen-weapon report, motel records, a bank robbery identification, and an eyewitness who placed Franklin at the scene. Franklin was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty at his 1986 trial, where the prosecution presented the confession recording, forensic links, witness ID, and evidence of Franklin’s movements. Does anyone have information about Manning, Schwenn, or that East Towne Mall parking lot on August 7, 1977?