On an early Tuesday morning in October 2019, a 911 hang-up brought deputies to a home on Pea Ridge Road in Frankfort, Kentucky, where 73-year-old Ronald D. Thornton was found with life-threatening injuries. Thornton, a U.S. Army veteran who had served in Vietnam and retired from the Legislative Research Commission, was pronounced dead at the scene; an autopsy found he died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators say Thornton was shot through his back door after coming to answer it, and was able to call for help before succumbing. The Kentucky State Police led the inquiry and described the incident as part of a planned robbery. A juvenile was arrested in November 2019; in January 2021 three adults — Samuel Payne, 37, of Frankfort; Damaja Hardy, 19, of Simpsonville; and Kendrick Bixler, 19, of Lawrenceburg — were charged with murder. Law enforcement alleges Payne drove the group, and that social media messages helped organize the plan.

Does anyone who knew Thornton or who was in the Pea Ridge Road area that October have information that could add detail to the timeline or motive?