On October 18, 2005, the bodies of Norma Faye Johnston Woodruff, 42, and her husband Dennis Woodruff were found murdered in their new home in Royse City, Texas. Family who had been unable to reach them for a couple of days prompted a friend to check on the couple. Investigators concluded they had been shot and stabbed multiple times and were likely killed on the evening of October 16, 2005.

Suspicion fell on their 19-year-old son, Brandon Woodruff, who had eaten dinner with his parents the night they were killed and was the last known person to see them alive. Prosecutors presented a theory that tensions over Brandon’s undisclosed homosexuality, his work in adult films, and financial troubles motivated the killings. At trial in 2009 Brandon was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. The prosecution introduced a dagger belonging to Brandon with the father’s blood on it; Brandon has said that blood came from an earlier incident when his father cut himself. Supporters and the Innocence Project of Texas have criticized the investigation and argued the case relied on circumstantial evidence and character issues.