On March 25, 1998, 12-year-old Samantha Marcia Dianne Rhodes was killed in Jefferson County, Arkansas, along with Misty Dawn Erwin, 24-year-old Shelly Marie Erwin Sorg, and Shelly’s two children, 5-year-old Sean Michael and 3-year-old Taylor Nicole. The five victims were found inside the mobile home where Misty Erwin and her boyfriend, Clay King Smith, lived.

Two days earlier Misty Erwin had reported to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office that Smith had battered her and that she planned to move out; deputies later found she had decided to stay. On March 25 Smith, armed with a .22-caliber rifle, shot all five people; Samantha was also reportedly beaten in the face. Relatives filed missing persons reports, which led to the discovery of the bodies.

A manhunt located Smith the next day at a Lincoln County hunting club. After an hour-long standoff during which he was armed with the murder weapon and made incriminating statements, a state trooper wounded Smith in the arm and took him into custody. He was charged with five counts of capital murder, convicted, sentenced to death, and later executed.

Did anyone in the Jefferson area at the time have information about the days before March 25 that could help clarify what happened?