Who killed 3 Houston Realtors execution-style in 1983? Cold case investigators aren't giving up.
February 20, 2020
''HOUSTON — It’s one of the biggest unsolved murders in Houston, and now cold case investigators are looking at it from a different angle, hoping new forensic testing could help find the killer.
On Aug. 19, 1983, three realtors were shot inside the Shumate and Co. Realtors Office at 16007 Memorial Drive in west Houston. The victims were identified as Elizabeth Shumate, 54, JoAnn Brown, 46 and Frances Ivey, 60.''
''It’s an empty field now, but 37 years ago, there was a house on the property and inside, a boutique real estate firm.
“It was a little Victorian house that they had moved to the property,” Maldonado said.
“Yellow and white,” Edwards said.
The murders happened around closing time after most people in the office had left. Another worker returning to the office around 6:30 p.m. discovered the crime scene.
“This was the day after Hurricane Alicia hit Houston, the streets were still full of glass, traffic was crazy,” Maldonado said.
Houston Police said the women were all found shot in the back of the head, execution style. Shumate was tied up, Brown and Ivey were close by and some of their jewelry was stolen.
The women had time to hide some pieces of jewelry, beneath chair cushions and trash cans.
Shortly after the murders, two people came forward saying they saw a man near the real estate office, and a composite sketch was released. However, detectives thought all along there might have been at least two killers.
Originally, they thought one of them might have been a woman''.
February 20, 2020
''HOUSTON — It’s one of the biggest unsolved murders in Houston, and now cold case investigators are looking at it from a different angle, hoping new forensic testing could help find the killer.
On Aug. 19, 1983, three realtors were shot inside the Shumate and Co. Realtors Office at 16007 Memorial Drive in west Houston. The victims were identified as Elizabeth Shumate, 54, JoAnn Brown, 46 and Frances Ivey, 60.''
''It’s an empty field now, but 37 years ago, there was a house on the property and inside, a boutique real estate firm.
“It was a little Victorian house that they had moved to the property,” Maldonado said.
“Yellow and white,” Edwards said.
The murders happened around closing time after most people in the office had left. Another worker returning to the office around 6:30 p.m. discovered the crime scene.
“This was the day after Hurricane Alicia hit Houston, the streets were still full of glass, traffic was crazy,” Maldonado said.
Houston Police said the women were all found shot in the back of the head, execution style. Shumate was tied up, Brown and Ivey were close by and some of their jewelry was stolen.
The women had time to hide some pieces of jewelry, beneath chair cushions and trash cans.
Shortly after the murders, two people came forward saying they saw a man near the real estate office, and a composite sketch was released. However, detectives thought all along there might have been at least two killers.
Originally, they thought one of them might have been a woman''.