On August 29, 1994, a family home in Vinton, Virginia, was the scene of a brutal multiple homicide. Three-year-old Anah Michelle Hodges and her 11-year-old sister Winter Ashley Hodges were found in an upstairs bedroom, each shot in the head at close range; Anah’s body was covered in soot and had minor burns. Their father, William Blaine Hodges, was also found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in another upstairs bedroom, while their mother, Teresa Lynn Fulcher Hodges, was discovered downstairs, strangled with a ligature and doused with gasoline and set on fire.

Early speculation considered William Hodges a possible suspect because of impending legal trouble, but the investigation focused on a close family friend, Earl Conrad Bramblett. Reports indicate William may have been killed before the others. Bramblett was arrested and indicted on multiple counts related to the killings, arson, and firearm use. The case involved witness testimony and Bramblett’s conduct during police interviews as part of the prosecution’s evidence.