On January 5, 1977, 33-year-old pawn shop owner Edward Nassar was shot in the back and killed during a daytime robbery at his Mobile, Alabama shop. The assailants fled the scene, prompting an intensive search.

FBI agents arrested John Louis Evans and Wayne Ritter in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 7, 1977. Investigators recovered the murder weapon and another firearm taken from Nassar’s pawn shop, and Evans gave a detailed confession. At trial in Mobile, Evans admitted the murder and reportedly threatened the jury; the jury returned a guilty verdict for first-degree murder committed during a robbery and recommended death after about fifteen minutes of deliberation.

Anyone who knew Edward Nassar, his family, or his business, or who remembers the robbery and its aftermath, is invited to share information or memories that might add to the record.