On an autumn evening in 1986, a brutal act of violence unfolded in a Dekalb, Georgia condominium, forever altering the lives of those present. Margaret Sweat, a 45-year-old woman, was in the living room with two other individuals, Wayne Smith and his son Steven, when their lives were irrevocably shattered. Two men, Larry Grant Lonchar and Mitchell Wells, gained entry to the residence under the guise of being special agents, a deceptive start to a horrifying chain of events.
The motive
for this violent intrusion was rooted in Lonchar's gambling debts to the Smiths. Once inside, Lonchar, posing as an officer, handcuffed Wayne and Steven Smith. What followed was a savage attack that left three people dead. Margaret Sweat was shot in the shoulder, and horrifically, stabbed seventeen times in the neck and three times in the chest. Wayne and Steven Smith were also murdered. A third son of Wayne Smith, Richard, was also shot multiple times but miraculously survived the onslaught.
The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of Larry Grant Lonchar and his accomplice, Mitchell Wells. Richard Smith's courageous testimony proved to be a critical piece of evidence in the prosecution of the assailants. As a result of the trial, Larry Grant Lonchar was convicted on three counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. For his heinous crimes, he received a death sentence for each of the murder convictions.
Nearly a decade after the brutal murders, in 1996, Larry Grant Lonchar was executed for his role in the deaths of Margaret Sweat, Wayne Smith, and Steven Smith. The case left a lasting scar on the community and, most profoundly, on the families of the victims. For Margaret Sweat's daughter, Wanda, the execution of her mother's killer brought a complex mix of emotions, a sense of justice tempered by the enduring pain of her loss.
