Debra Cruse, 22, and her sister Beverly Cruse, 25, were found murdered in an apartment in the 3200 block of Overland Avenue in the Palms neighborhood of Los Angeles on March 6, 1980. Their brother discovered their bodies; decomposition initially prevented a determination of the exact cause of death. For decades the killings remained unsolved.

Investigators later linked DNA evidence to a suspect. In July 2022 authorities arrested 76-year-old Billy Ray Richardson in Fort Worth, Texas, in connection with the murders of Debra and Beverly Cruse and other cold-case homicides. Prosecutors charged Richardson with first-degree murder with special circumstances and said the victims had been sexually assaulted prior to death. He was extradited to Los Angeles and ordered held without bail pending arraignment.