DNA Bombshell Solved Infamous KFC Murders After Over 40 Years

For more than 40 years, one of Texas’ most horrifying cold cases haunted investigators and terrified locals — a brutal massacre so shocking it became known simply as the “KFC Murders.” Now, authorities say the final mystery behind the slaughter of five young people abducted from a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant has finally been solved thanks to cutting-edge DNA genealogy technology.

The chilling case dates back to Sept. 23, 1983, when five victims vanished during a late-night robbery at a KFC in Kilgore, Texas. Hours later, their bodies were discovered dumped in a remote oil field in neighboring Rusk County.

Police said the victims — restaurant manager Mary Tyler, 37, employees Opie Hughes, 39, Joey Johnson, 20, David Maxwell, 20, and visitor Monty Landers, 19 — had been kidnapped at gunpoint before being executed with bullets to the back of their heads.

Authorities also revealed Hughes had been sexually assaulted during the horrifying ordeal.

The savage killings stunned East Texas and became one of the state’s most infamous unsolved mass murders. Roughly $2,000 was stolen from the restaurant during the robbery, according to reports.

For decades, investigators chased leads and suspects while families of the victims waited for answers.

Two men, Romeo Pinkerton and Darnell Hartsfield, were eventually convicted in 2007 and 2008 after DNA evidence linked them to blood found inside the restaurant. But investigators always believed there was a third killer involved.

A mysterious DNA profile recovered from Hughes’ clothing did not match either convicted man, leaving one final suspect unidentified for decades.

That changed in 2025.

Texas authorities announced that advances in forensic genealogy and modern DNA testing finally identified the third alleged perpetrator as Devan Riggs — a man who had already been dead for more than 10 years by the time investigators uncovered his identity.

Officials said Riggs will never face justice in court because of his death, but authorities now officially consider the notorious case closed.

The breakthrough came after the Texas Rangers reopened the investigation through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative program in 2023. DNA evidence was later sent to Bode Technologies for advanced genealogy testing.

Investigators eventually narrowed the evidence down to one of three Riggs brothers before additional testing confirmed Devan Riggs as the source of the DNA recovered from Hughes’ clothing.

Authorities believe Riggs sexually assaulted Hughes and took part in the executions alongside Pinkerton and Hartsfield.

The case also revealed how early investigative mistakes nearly sent authorities in the wrong direction forever.

During autopsies in the 1980s, a fingernail discovered near one victim’s clothing was mistakenly believed to belong to one of the killers. That error led investigators to focus heavily on another man, Jimmy Earl Mankins Jr., who was eventually indicted in the case.

But years later, improved DNA testing proved the fingernail actually belonged to victim Mary Tyler — not a suspect.

Former Assistant Texas Attorney General Lisa Tanner later said the breakthrough likely prevented a devastating miscarriage of justice.

Over the years, investigators reportedly eliminated 231 suspects while trying to solve the mystery of the unidentified DNA profile.

Authorities also uncovered disturbing evidence during separate investigations after the murders. According to reports, one of Riggs’ brothers allegedly told investigators he last saw Devan Riggs carrying a .357 handgun — the same type of weapon believed to have been used in the executions.

Investigators also recovered stolen property linked to the suspects in the weeks after the massacre.

Even though the final suspect is dead, prosecutors said finally identifying Riggs gives long-awaited answers to grieving families after more than four decades of uncertainty.

“We will not be having another Kentucky Fried Chicken murders trial,” Tanner said during the announcement. “But at least we know.”