Maureen Kelly Murphy was 28 and serving as a patrol officer with the Bonner Springs Police Department when she was killed on the night of January 31, 1986. She was seated in her patrol car working on a report when a single high-powered rifle shot, fired from about two blocks away, struck and fatally wounded her. Murphy was a wife and the mother of a 15-month-old daughter; her husband worked as a detective in Kansas City.

Police identified and arrested a suspect who was reportedly already known to the local department. Before the suspect could be tried for Murphy’s murder, he hanged himself in his jail cell. Many questions remain about the motive and circumstances surrounding the shooting and the suspect’s death.

If anyone knew Officer Murphy, her family, or has information about the shooting, please share what you know.