On February 26, 1993, 20-year-old college student Dennis Wellnitz was found shot to death in his family home in Columbia, Kentucky. His parents, 50-year-old veterinarian Joseph Wellnitz and his 40-year-old wife Beth, were also found murdered in the house; all three victims had been shot multiple times with a 9mm handgun. There were no signs of forced entry, and Dennis was discovered in his bedroom with gunshot wounds in his back, leading investigators to believe the family had been targeted by someone they knew.

Investigators later developed a theory that the killings were part of a murder-for-hire plot tied to family finances. Authorities say the family’s adoptive daughter and sister, Meg Wellnitz Appleton, conspired to obtain an inheritance and a life insurance payout, and that she recruited a man named William Harry Meece to carry out the killings. An ex-wife of Meece provided information that implicated both Appleton and Meece.

The case moved from cold file to prosecution after those revelations. Anyone with information about the family, their finances, or the events leading up to February 26, 1993, is asked to come forward.