SD, LaDonna Mathis, 30, kids Brian, 4 and Patrick, 2, Mt. Vernon, murdered 8 Sept 1981

[LouLou74]

Unsolved murders. The husband/father of the boys, John Mathis, found not-guilty in 1982.

Who killed this family?

Mathis family murders: 40 years later no other suspects

No one has ever been held responsible for 40-year-old murders of a Mt. Vernon family. We look back at one of the most infamous murder trials in SD history.

www.keloland.com

A book was written about the murders as well:

A mother and 2 sons shot dead in their beds: South Dakota's gruesome Mathis killings examined in new book

The Mathis case, the trial and the questions that remain to this day are the subject of a new book, "South Dakota's Mathis Murders: Horror in the Heartland" by long-time South Dakota journalist Noel Hamiel. The book is available to purchase on Monday.

www.mitchellrepublic.com

These are the only pictures I could find.

LaDonna Mathis and her sons, Brian, Patrick and baby, Duane

 

[meanmaryjean]

Let's see:
Isolated area
Three people dead- shot while asleep in their beds
Survivor 'wrested' with the killer and received minor-ish wound to a single limb
Survivor had the shell casings in his pocket

Makes you wonder about the fire- was it a failed attempt?

 

[bykerladi]

Doesn't this sound a bit like the Sam Sheppard case? A "mysterious" stranger, dad wrestles with intruder, wife dies... Or Darlie Routier.....