A chilling cold case, haunting East Texas for over four decades, has finally reached a somber close. The 1983 murders at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore – a brutal kidnapping and execution of five individuals – has yielded its final secret.
On a September morning in 1983, the bodies of Opie Hughes, Mary Tyler, Joey Johnson, David Maxwell, and Monty Landers were discovered on a desolate oil lease. Each victim had been deliberately shot in the back of the head, a grim signature of calculated violence. Hughes also endured a horrific sexual assault, adding another layer of depravity to the crime.
The initial investigation revealed the victims had been abducted during an armed robbery the night before. For years, the case remained a painful mystery, a dark stain on Rusk County and a source of anguish for families. The community reeled, desperate for answers that seemed perpetually out of reach.
A breakthrough arrived in 2007 and 2008 with the convictions of Romeo Pinkerton and Darnell Hartsfield, secured through DNA evidence found at the crime scene. Yet, a nagging inconsistency remained. A separate DNA sample recovered from Hughes’ clothing didn’t match either convicted killer.
Investigators always suspected a third perpetrator, a shadow lurking behind the known criminals. Despite relentless efforts, identifying this individual proved impossible – until now. The case lay dormant, a frustrating puzzle with a missing piece.
In 2023, the case was revisited under the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a program designed to leverage advancements in forensic science to resolve long-unsolved crimes. This initiative, fueled by funding from the Department of Justice, offered a renewed hope for justice.
The remaining evidence was sent for advanced DNA testing in July 2024. Months of meticulous analysis followed, culminating in a stunning revelation in May 2025: DNA from three brothers in East Texas surfaced as potential matches.
Further investigation definitively identified Devan Riggs as the source of the previously unknown DNA. While Riggs is now deceased, having passed away more than a decade ago, the identification provides a crucial sense of closure.
With all three perpetrators now identified, the Texas Department of Public Safety has officially closed the case. Though no arrests are possible, the decades-long search for answers has finally concluded, bringing a measure of peace to a community forever marked by this horrific tragedy.
