Sylvester Ayon, 30, was fatally shot on October 1, 1982, while working on a ranch near Santa Ynez in Santa Barbara County. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene after being ambushed while driving a tractor along Refugio Road. A 17-year-old who was with Ayon was also shot in the stomach but survived; that witness is identified only by initials in reports.

Investigators later identified Jose Manuel Martinez as the shooter. Martinez reportedly said he had been hired to kill Ayon in retaliation for Ayon’s alleged role in a 1979 dancehall shooting in Durango, Mexico, in which four people were killed; Martinez claimed to be related to at least one victim. Martinez admitted traveling to Santa Barbara County with three other men to carry out the ambush but refused to name them.

For years the case remained unsolved. Martinez was eventually linked to other killings by evidence found decades later, which led to his arrest and confessions about multiple murders, including Ayon’s. He was sentenced to life in prison for several homicides. If anyone knew Sylvester Ayon, the 17-year-old survivor, or saw activity along Refugio Road around October 1, 1982, contact authorities with any information.