On the early morning of August 20, 2016, a disturbance at a Small Street residence in Salem, Indiana, left two people dead. Joseph Ray Hobson, 36, and his girlfriend, Valerie E. Dicus, were found unresponsive and taken to St. Vincent Salem Hospital, where both were pronounced dead. Autopsies ruled their deaths homicides; Dicus suffered a single gunshot wound and Hobson multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators focused on a relative of Dicus, local man Joe Paul Hambel, after witnesses and reports placed him at the house that night armed with a handgun. Police say Hambel allegedly entered the home, a struggle over the weapon occurred, and he later made statements suggesting he had taken matters into his own hands about local drug activity. Hambel was arrested the same day and charged with two counts of murder and criminal trespass; the prosecution described the killings as vigilantism, while the defense characterized the shooting as accidental during a fight.

A jury convicted Joe P. Hambel in November 2017 and the judge imposed a lengthy sentence. Did anyone who knew Hobson or Dicus notice threats or escalating conflicts before August 20, 2016?