On January 3, 2001, 60-year-old Carl Eugene Dutcher, his wife JoAnna, and their 15-year-old grandson Anthony Tony Dutcher were found slain at the Dutcher family home near Guffey, Colorado. Deputies responded after a son of the couple reported being unable to reach them. Carl and JoAnna had been shot multiple times with an assault rifle at the rural residence; Tony was later found in a makeshift campsite on a hill overlooking the house with his throat slashed.

Initial investigators struggled to establish a motive; neighbors described the Dutchers as nice people. A break in the case came when renewed interviews with 15-year-old friend Isaac Grimes produced inconsistencies in his alibi and prompted further questioning. Grimes confessed to killing Tony and implicated 17-year-old Jonathan Matheny in the slayings of Carl and JoAnna, allegedly tied to a secretive student group and an apparent test of loyalty ordered by a leader who was out of the country at the time.

Does anyone have information about the Palmer High School group or the people involved that could shed light on why the Dutcher family was targeted?