Reactions to Murders in '83
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following story includes 1983 reactions to the deaths of the KFC victims provided to the Tyler Paper in the days after the slayings.)
The victims of the 1983 KFC killings were:
Mary Tyler, 37, assistant manager of the Kilgore restaurant.
Opie Ann Hughes, 39, a night employee and mother of three.
Joey Johnson, 20, a former Overton High School football standout who was working his way through Kilgore College.
David Maxwell, 19, a former honor student at West Rusk High School, all district band member and sophomore at Kilgore College.
Monte Landers, 19, a Kilgore College freshman, former Gladewater High School student and a pledge of Maxwell's and Johnson's fraternity. Landers did not work at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Mrs. Tyler's daughter, Kim Miller, 17, stumbled onto the scene about 10:30 p.m. on the night of the killings when she went to the restaurant to see why her mother had not come home. Mrs. Tyler's husband, an employee of Halliburton Services, usually picked her up from work.
"Billy usually picked her up, but he had to work that night," Bob Tyler, Mrs. Tyler's brother-in-law, told the Tyler Paper in 1983. ''He has held up pretty well under the circumstances."
The Tylers have five children, including three of Mrs. Miller's children by previous marriage.
"She had a large heart. She was always doing something for somebody." Mrs. Tyler's ex-husband, Charles Nix, said shortly after the murders.
Maxwell was a former president of Kilgore College Phi Theta Omega fraternity. He had been working at the restaurant only a few weeks, his father, Donald Maxwell, Good Springs, said.
Maxwell had been married nine months. His widow, Lana, was pregnant at the time.
His father called David a "good boy.''
"He was a band member, not so much an athlete, and he made good grades," Mr. Maxwell said at the time.
West Rusk High School Principal Jimmy Jones said David graduated 13th in his class of 1961. He was a member of the junior engineers society and an all-district band election, he said.
A friend of the Maxwells, James Stroud of Somerville, said David and Joey were close friends.
Johnson, 20, was known as a "real hard-working kid," Harold Stanger, Overton High School principal, said.
Johnson won the Billy Jack Roberson Award as an outstanding football player at Overton in 1982. As senior class president, Johnson was elected "Mr. Overton High School," the highest honor awarded an Overton senior by the faculty.
''He was a class favorite and was in Who's Who Among High School Athletes,'' Stanger said.
Johnson played football and basketball four years and tennis and track three years, Stanger said.
''I knew him personally. He was the ideal student, a real hard-working youngster,'' he said.
Johnson's father died several years ago pushing him to make his own way, Stanger said.
The principal said Maxwell was one of Johnson's best friends.
Landers was known at Gladewater High School for his world travels, a school official said. His father worked for an oil company.
"He was a nice kid and always helped out in the office," the school official, who asked not to be identified, said.
Landers made average grades, but was bright and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.
Police investigators believe Landers was visiting his two friends at closing time at the restaurant.
The victims of the 1983 KFC killings were:
Mrs. Tyler's daughter, Kim Miller, 17, stumbled onto the scene about 10:30 p.m. on the night of the killings when she went to the restaurant to see why her mother had not come home. Mrs. Tyler's husband, an employee of Halliburton Services, usually picked her up from work.
"Billy usually picked her up, but he had to work that night," Bob Tyler, Mrs. Tyler's brother-in-law, told the Tyler Paper in 1983. ''He has held up pretty well under the circumstances."
The Tylers have five children, including three of Mrs. Miller's children by previous marriage.
"She had a large heart. She was always doing something for somebody." Mrs. Tyler's ex-husband, Charles Nix, said shortly after the murders.
Maxwell was a former president of Kilgore College Phi Theta Omega fraternity. He had been working at the restaurant only a few weeks, his father, Donald Maxwell, Good Springs, said.
Maxwell had been married nine months. His widow, Lana, was pregnant at the time.
His father called David a "good boy.''
"He was a band member, not so much an athlete, and he made good grades," Mr. Maxwell said at the time.
West Rusk High School Principal Jimmy Jones said David graduated 13th in his class of 1961. He was a member of the junior engineers society and an all-district band election, he said.
A friend of the Maxwells, James Stroud of Somerville, said David and Joey were close friends.
Johnson, 20, was known as a "real hard-working kid," Harold Stanger, Overton High School principal, said.
Johnson won the Billy Jack Roberson Award as an outstanding football player at Overton in 1982. As senior class president, Johnson was elected "Mr. Overton High School," the highest honor awarded an Overton senior by the faculty.
''He was a class favorite and was in Who's Who Among High School Athletes,'' Stanger said.
Johnson played football and basketball four years and tennis and track three years, Stanger said.
''I knew him personally. He was the ideal student, a real hard-working youngster,'' he said.
Johnson's father died several years ago pushing him to make his own way, Stanger said.
The principal said Maxwell was one of Johnson's best friends.
Landers was known at Gladewater High School for his world travels, a school official said. His father worked for an oil company.
"He was a nice kid and always helped out in the office," the school official, who asked not to be identified, said.
Landers made average grades, but was bright and wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.
Police investigators believe Landers was visiting his two friends at closing time at the restaurant.
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