Domingo Perez, a 29-year-old Hispanic man from Earlimart, California, was reported missing by his family on April 8, 1995. His body was found nearly seven weeks later, on May 23, 1995, in an orange grove just north of Richgrove. An autopsy showed he had been shot multiple times, a deliberate and violent homicide. The remote agricultural location of the discovery prompted investigators to consider a possible connection to organized criminal activity.

Years later, investigations into a series of similar killings led to the arrest of Jose Manuel Martinez, also known as El Mano Negro, who was charged in 2014 with multiple murders across Tulare, Kern and Santa Barbara counties, including the killing of Perez. The charged cases allege patterns of multiple gunshot wounds to primarily Hispanic male victims and include allegations such as lying in wait, kidnapping and murder for financial gain. Did anyone in Earlimart or Richgrove at the time notice unfamiliar vehicles or people around the orange groves in spring 1995?