After decades of speculation since the murders of five people, DNA evidence from the crime scene led investigators to identify the longtime speculated third suspect.
KILGORE, Texas — The third suspect involved in the infamous 1983 Kentucky Fried Chicken murders in Kilgore has been identified as Devan Riggs.
On Sept. 23, 1983, Mary Tyler, 37, Opie Ann Hughes, 39, Joey Johnson, 20, David Maxwell, 20, and Monte Landers, 19, were all killed after they were driven from the KFC in Kilgore to a gas well lease location in Rusk County. Reports say they were shot execution-style in an oilfield.
Romeo Pinkerton and his cousin Darnell Hartsfield were convicted in connection with the murders in 2008 and and 2007, respectively. Hartsfield, 61, died on May 4, 2022, from a massive hemorrhagic stroke.
In the past, Hartsfield, despite his conviction and cousin’s guilty plea, has said the “real killer” is still on the run. Past reports also have stated the search for a third killer is ongoing.
This year, the Texas Rangers used genealogical testing on a sample that prosecutors have had for decades, but they were not able to identify it until this year. The genealogy determined the semen found on Hughes’ pants originated from one of the three now-dead Riggs brothers, Larry, Billy and Devan.
On Nov. 20, 2025, the technology issued a report excluding Larry and Billy Riggs, leaving Devan Riggs as the source of the semen. Investigators determined that Devan Riggs sexually assaulted Hughes on or around September 23, 1983.
Seven weeks after the KFC murders happened, Devan Riggs was arrested for attempting to murder his brother, Billy Riggs, in a neighboring Shelby County. Officials confirmed he served prison time for that offense.
Officials said the attempted murder investigation led to the discovery of many stolen items at Devan and Billy Riggs’ home. Billy Riggs confessed to the burglaries in a written statement and named Devan Riggs as his partner in the crimes, including stealing multiple vans, the DA’s office said.
Billy Riggs also said he stole a 357 handgun, which he last saw Devan Riggs have. The prosecution believes there’s enough of a “compelling case” to show Devan Riggs joined Hartsfield and Pinkerton in committing the five murders.
Devan Riggs died in October 2010 and was born in the 1950s. He had moved to California at some point and lived the remainder of his life there, prosecutors announced. He has a lengthy criminal history both in East Texas and California.
Rusk County District Attorney Micheal E. Jimerson and lead prosecutor Lisa Tanner have labeled him as the “last perpetrator with DNA evidence.”
According to the Rusk County District Attorney’s Office, Pinkerton and Hartsfield were considered suspects within the first week. Further developments took the investigation in the wrong direction until the early 2000s when DNA technology led Pinkerton and Hartsfield being identified as suspects based on blood evidence found in the KFC on Sept. 24, 1983.
During their trials, prosecutors learned authorities had unidentified biological material recovered from one of the victim’s pants. Lab technicians developed a profile linked to an “unknown man of African descent,” the DA’s office said.