On the evening of October 30, 1987, three people were shot to death at a farmhouse on Consolidated Road in Eaton, Ohio. Victims were 31-year-old David Smelser, 24-year-old Melinda Newcomb, and 28-year-old Donnie Marker; each sustained at least one gunshot wound to the head. Their bodies were found three days later, on November 2, when a friend checked on Smelser after he missed work. Smelser lay in the living room; Marker and Newcomb were found in the kitchen, with no visible sign of struggle at the scene.

Investigators think Smelser may have been the intended target and that Marker and Newcomb might have been killed after unexpectedly walking in. Marker had recently returned from Colorado, was living with Smelser and working at a poultry plant, and had left a wife and three children in Colorado. Newcomb had been at a local bar, The Stable, that night and worked at a group home; she had been planning to attend Sinclair Community College. The isolated cabin sat more than 200 yards from the road. The Preble County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation have investigated the case and named a person of interest, but no arrests have been announced.