In the early morning hours of March 14, 1997, 39-year-old Patrol Officer Daniel Philip Longstreet was found shot to death inside his patrol car in a vacant lot in Higginson, Arkansas. Longstreet, a United States Army veteran and one of two full-time officers in the town, had been sitting in his vehicle when an assailant fired multiple shots through the passenger side window. Residents who heard the gunfire discovered his body.

Investigators focused on 27-year-old Timothy Lee Askins, whom Longstreet had arrested previously and was due to testify against in an upcoming insurance fraud case. Authorities allege Askins sought to prevent that testimony. Evidence cited in the case included gunshot residue on Askins’ jacket and statements from family members who cooperated with police. Askins was arrested and later pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to life without parole.

Two relatives were implicated as accomplices. Eighteen-year-old Kristie Fulgham and her 17-year-old husband, Jess Allan Fulgham, were said to have helped. Jess Fulgham admitted to driving Askins to the scene and providing the firearm; he was convicted of first-degree murder and given 30 years. Kristie Fulgham pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension and received six years. Officer Longstreet was a husband and father of three daughters.

Did anyone in Higginson at the time notice unusual activity or people around that vacant lot in the days before the shooting?