On September 1, 1996, in Dennehotso, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation, 13-year-old Jazann June Yazzie and her sisters Veneashia, 15, Cara, 8, and Nathalie, 5, were fatally shot inside their home. Their 11-year-old brother Rhyan was also shot but survived by pretending to be dead. The children’s mother was away visiting relatives at the time.

Their father, Norman Dean Yazzie, then 33, was identified as the shooter. Neighbors alerted his parents after seeing two vehicles near the trailer set on fire; the parents found their son with a rifle and the girls’ bodies, and the home smelled strongly of gasoline. Norman escaped initial restraint but was captured the next morning hiding between two mattresses in a nearby hogan with a note expressing anger about his wife’s affair and mentioning her recent suicide attempt. He reportedly told investigators he couldn’t handle the thought of not having a family.

In December 1996 Norman Dean Yazzie was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and other felonies; on March 11, 1997, he was sentenced to life without parole plus 85 years. Does anyone have memories of the Dennehotso community at that time or information that could shed light on what led up to this tragedy?