On the evening of October 18, 1975, six-year-old Deanna Lynn Kellie was shot and killed inside her home in Sutherland, Nebraska, as part of a larger attack that left five other members of the Kellie family dead. The victims included Deanna’s five-year-old brother Daniel Leroy, ten-year-old sister Florence Marie, father David LeRoy Kellie, grandmother Audrey Marie Matson Kellie, and grandfather James Henry Kellie.

Police say the killings were carried out by the family’s next-door neighbor, 33-year-old Erwin Charles Simants. Earlier that day Simants had been drinking at local bars, then went to his sister’s house, retrieved a .22-caliber rifle and ammunition, told a nephew to keep the children inside, and went to the Kellie home. After the shootings he returned to his sister’s house, unloaded the rifle, left a note apologizing and saying it was the best way out, and confessed the killings to his nephew and later to his parents.

Simants was arrested on October 19, 1975, and charged with six counts of first-degree murder. At trial he was found legally insane and committed to a mental institution. Does anyone have family memories, photographs, or local details about the Kellies or Sutherland in 1975 that could add context to this case?