On the afternoon of March 13, 1982, Robert W. Paulson, 42, was found dead in his family’s burning farmhouse in Allendale, Michigan. Firefighters and a local farmer who arrived at the scene discovered that the fire had been set after the fact; Robert, his wife Mary Jane, and their three daughters Cynthia, 18, Carla, 13, and Casey, 8, had all been shot execution-style with a .22 caliber weapon. The wounds, the precise placement of the shots, and the lack of signs of a struggle led investigators to conclude the fire had been set to conceal the murders. Robert Paulson was thought to have been shot first near the kitchen.

A witness reported a suspicious car near the property that morning. Suspicion focused on Maris Karklins, a former coworker of Mary Jane. After questioning in an unrelated shooting of his mother, Karklins confessed to the Paulson killings, saying he believed he was on a divine mission and describing the family’s home as a witch’s cauldron. He withdrew an initial insanity plea, was found guilty on five counts of first-degree murder in 1983, and received mandatory life sentences without parole.

Does anyone have memories of the Paulsons or information that could shed further light on the case?