Patrolman Michael P. Connors, 23, was killed in the early hours of November 13, 1979, after stopping a car traveling the wrong way near Madison and Grace Streets. Connors, who had been with the Richmond Police Department about a year, approached a vehicle whose four occupants were recent parolees and had just committed an armed robbery at a nearby convenience store. The occupants opened fire, striking him four times in the face; he was found minutes later by his lieutenant.

An investigation led to the arrest and conviction of all four men in the car. The man identified as the shooter received a death sentence that was later commuted to life after a second trial; the three accomplices were also given life sentences. Decades later the case drew fresh controversy when the Virginia Parole Board granted parole in 2020 to Vincent Martin, the man convicted of firing the fatal shots. The board was later found to have violated state law and its own policies by not notifying Connors’ surviving family of the hearing; Martin’s release was temporarily halted pending an investigation.

Does anyone have memories of Patrolman Connors or information about the case that could add detail to the record?