A robbery at a stereo shop became one of America’s most studied murder cases.
Five people taken hostage. Forced to drink Drano. Three killed, two survived. The case told straight, from the timeline to the trial to the racial-bias appeals that ran for almost 20 years.
On the evening of April 22, 1974, six men robbed the Hi-Fi Shop, a home audio store at 2323 Washington Boulevard in Ogden, Utah. Over about three hours in the basement, they held five people hostage, forced them to drink Drano, and shot each of them. Three died. Two survived with permanent injuries.
The case became one of the most studied violent crimes in American legal history, for its cruelty and for the long fight over race and the death penalty that followed.
Explore the case
Why the case is still studied
The Drano and Magnum Force link
The killers copied a poisoning method from a 1973 film. It failed, and the crime turned slower and more brutal than they planned.
Read moreRace and the death penalty
Both men sentenced to death were Black; the victims and the jury were white. The appeals reached a 1996 international human rights finding.
Read moreThe survivors
Orren Walker and Cortney Naisbitt lived through the attack and shaped what we know. Both carried the injuries for the rest of their lives.
Read moreStart with the timeline
A clear, sourced account of what happened on April 22, 1974, and the years of trials and appeals that followed.
Read the timelineAbout this site