On September 15, 1987, Geraldine Patterson Buchanan, 31, was murdered in her home in Naola, Virginia, the last of four family members killed in a single attack. Her husband, Douglas McArthur Buchanan Sr., and their two sons, 13-year-old Joel Jerry JJ and 10-year-old Christopher Donald Donnie, were also killed that day. He and his wife, Christianne Marie Buchanan, drove to the family home armed; an argument with Douglas Sr. escalated and Douglas Jr. shot him, then shot both boys when they returned from school. Joel was shot, dragged back inside, shot again and stabbed multiple times. Geraldine returned home last; Douglas Jr. shot her with his father’s handgun, stabbed her in the chest and slit her throat.

Douglas Jr. and Christianne fled to New Mexico and were arrested 17 days later. Douglas Jr. was tried and convicted of capital murder; the jury recommended the death penalty and he was executed by lethal injection on March 18, 1998. Christianne was convicted on four counts of being an accessory to first-degree murder and later released on parole in December 2015.