On the morning of July 25, 1980, in St. Charles, Missouri, 19-year-old Mary Michelle Fleming was attacked in her apartment after returning from a nearby grocery store. She was followed by a man who entered with the intent to burglarize; a violent struggle left a trail of blood through the living room and kitchen. Fleming suffered multiple stab wounds to her chest and her throat was cut from ear to ear. Clad only in a bikini top, she ran to a neighbor’s home and collapsed on the doorstep after calling for help. She was taken to a local hospital and bled to death.

Investigators quickly identified a suspect, 28-year-old Anthony Joe LaRette Jr. A friend who recognized a car described in news reports as one he had lent to LaRette contacted him, and LaRette allegedly confessed during a phone call partially overheard by a detective. An arrest warrant was issued; LaRette was arrested in Topeka, Kansas, after a failed suicide attempt and charged with capital murder with bond set at $500,000. At trial he gave conflicting accounts, alternately blaming an accomplice and claiming the killing was accidental after Fleming screamed. The jury found Anthony Joe LaRette Jr. guilty of capital murder and he was sentenced to death.

Are there readers who remember Mary Fleming or have information about her life in St. Charles before that July day?