The police investigation and criminal trials that followed the murders lasted for more than a decade and resulted in the execution of one man, David Wayne Spence, and life prison sentences for two other men allegedly involved in the crime, Anthony and Gilbert Melendez.

On July 14, 1982, two fishermen discovered the bodies of Jill Montgomery, 17, Raylene Rice, 17, and Kenneth Franks, 18, in Speegleville Park, near Lake Waco.

A police officer on scene, patrol sergeant Truman Simon, found Franks' body under a large tree propped up against the stump with sunglasses over his eyes.

[1] The first female victim found, Raylene, was stabbed repeatedly and left with her hands bound behind her back and gagged, naked, aside from a bra that was tied to her right leg.

[1] The investigation was initially headed by Lieutenant Marvin Horton of the Waco police department, with assistance from Detective Ramon Salinas and Patrolman Mike Nicoletti.

Initially, the investigation revealed several different possible suspects, including James Russell Bishop [2] and Terry Harper, residents who had been tied to the area at the time of the crime.

The case languished for nearly a year until the work of Simons and others had produced enough evidence again to arrest Deeb and three alleged accomplices in the plot.

[4] Deeb had had a life insurance policy for one employee at his convenience store who bore a striking resemblance to Jill Montgomery.

District Attorney Vic Feazell, whose office had been instrumental in continuing to pursue new evidence in the case, would manage the prosecution against the accused.

[7] The evidence against the men largely consisted of testimony provided by other inmates, who claimed that the defendants had admitted to their involvement in the killings in private discussions, as well as confessions made by Anthony and Gilbert Melendez.

Former McLennan County District Attorney Vic Feazell, who had prosecuted Deeb, stated following the trial, "I am perplexed and bewildered, as I'm sure a lot of people are.

[13] Brian Pardo, a wealthy Texas businessman, met Spence a few months before his execution and, on becoming convinced of his innocence, launched a campaign to delay his death sentence so that a new trial could be commenced.

Bob Herbert wrote a series of articles for The New York Times in 1997, with headlines such as “The Wrong Man” and “The Impossible Crime,” in which he claimed that the case had been “cobbled […] together from the fabricated and often preposterous testimony of inmates who were granted all manner of favors in return.” [14] [15]