On the morning of March 25, 1978, three employees at a Shoney’s restaurant in Henrico County, Virginia, were killed during an apparent robbery. Steven Staples, the 20-year-old morning manager, and Agnes Hicks, a 43-year-old waitress, were found dead inside the restaurant; Franklin Cooley, the 35-year-old night custodian, was discovered alive but later died at a hospital without regaining consciousness. A breakfast cook arriving about 6:35 a.m. found the scene, noting the lower front-door glass shattered.

Investigators reported the victims had been shot at close range with a .22 caliber weapon and showed powder burns. Staples had been shot in the upper chest, suffered a fractured skull and multiple head lacerations, and had a neck cut; a piece of angle iron was found nearby and a smeared blood trail led from the office safe to where he lay. The safe was open and about $3,984 was missing.

Police arrested co-worker Charles Sylvester Stamper and Kearnard Kenneth Bowling; keys to Staples’ car and a .22 revolver were found near Stamper’s parents’ home. Does anyone have memories or information about the Shoney’s location, the staff, or the early-morning discovery that could add context to the case?