On New Year’s Eve 1975, the Mahoney family was found dead in their Whipple Road home in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Ruth Mahoney, 48, a nurse, was killed alongside her husband, obstetrician Dr. Hugh Mahoney, and their 14-year-old son, John. The scene shocked the small town and left investigators with little to go on at first.

A break in the investigation came when Donald Wilson, in custody in New Hampshire on unrelated charges, said he had been the getaway driver for a group that traveled from New Hampshire to Tewksbury to rob the Mahoney home on December 31. Wilson identified Robert Stanley Wilson, Robert E. Smith, and Terence Milan as the others involved. According to that account, the robbery turned violent after Dr. Mahoney answered the door; John and Ruth were shot while trying to defend the family and Dr. Mahoney was then killed.

Testimony from Donald Wilson and Terence Milan, who cooperated with authorities, and ballistics evidence tying bullets to guns used by Smith and Robert Wilson led to arrests and convictions at trial. Smith later died in prison and Robert Wilson remains incarcerated.