Joshua Wayne Rice, 30, was found fatally shot inside an apartment near Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 18, 2018. He and another man, David Kandelaki, were discovered together; both had been shot to death. Rice had worked as a bartender at the Texas Roadhouse in Middletown and was known in his community.

Investigators focused on Aaron Hernandez, 23, who had been in a three-year romantic relationship with Rice and against whom Rice had sought a protective order days before the killings (the order was never granted). Hernandez was found in Texas, extradited to Louisville, and tried on two counts of murder and tampering with physical evidence. Prosecutors presented circumstantial evidence including alleged internet searches about how to commit murder and post-murder actions by Hernandez: withdrawing a large sum of cash, canceling car insurance, and purchasing a one-way bus ticket to Mexico.

The defense highlighted an absence of direct physical evidence tying Hernandez to the scene, and the jury acquitted him of all charges. The murders of Joshua Rice and David Kandelaki therefore remain without legal resolution. If anyone knew Joshua, David, their movements that week, or has information about the killings, please come forward.