Crystal Faye Todd, a teenage girl, was found murdered in a ditch wearing a class ring engraved Crystal Faye Todd. Her body showed 31 cut and stab wounds, including an ear-to-ear gash across the throat, bruises and abrasions, and a defensive wound on her left hand. Forensic examiners determined the sexual contact was not consensual and investigators believed the attacker used a 3.5-inch locking-blade knife.

The inquiry initially focused on a local man named Andy Tyndall but later shifted after DNA testing of 51 male acquaintances matched Johnnie Kenneth Register II, also known as Ken Register, who had been seen as a friendly, blond-haired former football player and close friend of the victim. Register was arrested in February 1992; interrogation tactics led to a confession that conflicted with forensic findings. He was convicted of sexual assault and murder.