On the evening of May 12, 1986, 25-year-old Lisa Michelle Strong was walking home from work near Kensington Avenue and 800 East in Salt Lake City when she was shot multiple times and killed; one bullet struck her in the head. Strong, a Weber State College graduate and artist whose work had been shown locally, was likely wearing headphones at the time of the attack, according to witness accounts referenced at the time.

Ballistic testing tied the .38-caliber revolver used to kill Strong to two other nearby slayings: 18-year-old Christine Gallegos on May 15, 1985, and 20-year-old Carla Maxwell on April 25, 1986, prompting a multi-agency task force and fears of a serial offender. The case went cold for years, but a Salt Lake County grand jury in March 1995 indicted 28-year-old Forrest Lee Whittle, then serving time for a 1987 rape and robbery, based largely on witness testimony that he had confessed and had been seen near the scene.

A jury convicted Whittle in August 1996 and sentenced him to an additional five years to life; he has continued to assert his innocence. Despite the ballistic links, Whittle was never charged in the Gallegos and Maxwell deaths, which remain officially unsolved. Some involved have alleged investigative failures and controversy, including the firing of three officers who conducted a parallel inquiry.

If anyone knew Lisa, saw something that night, or has information that could clarify the connections between these cases, please come forward.