On September 15, 1987, 10-year-old Christopher Donald Buchanan was killed in his family home in Naola, Virginia, along with his father Douglas Buchanan Sr., stepmother Geraldine Buchanan, and 13-year-old brother Joel Jerry JJ Buchanan. Their bodies were found on September 17, 1987.

The investigation focused on the family’s older half-brother, Douglas McArthur Buchanan Jr. He confessed to the killings, saying he used a rifle, a pistol, and a knife, and that he had endured years of mistreatment by his father. He was arrested and charged in the case.

The case moved through the courts, producing convictions: Douglas Jr. was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. His wife, Christianne Marie Buchanan, was convicted as an accessory to first-degree murder for conspiring with him and received four life terms. Does anyone have memories of the Naola community from that time or additional information about the family’s history?