On March 6, 1986, Martha Ann Chapman Matich, a 31-year-old female, was tragically killed in an act of revenge at the Newton County grocery store where she worked. The events of that fatal evening unfolded after the store had closed, when her ex-boyfriend, Melbert Ray Ford, arrived with an accomplice, Roger Turner. Ford, who had been harassing Matich since their breakup, had previously threatened to kill her.
Just after closing time, Ford used a gun to shoot through the locked glass door to gain entry into the store. Inside, he confronted Matich and her 11-year-old niece, Lisa Renee Chapman, who was visiting her aunt. As Matich triggered the burglar alarm, Ford shot her three times, leaving her dead behind the counter. He then went to the bathroom where Lisa was hiding and shot her in the head. Ford fled the scene with a bag of money, leaving Lisa gravely wounded.
A Newton County sheriff's deputy responded to the alarm at 10:27 p.m. and discovered the horrific scene. Martha Matich was already deceased, and Lisa Chapman was found alive but convulsing from her head wound; she died a short time later. The following day, both Melbert Ray Ford, then 25, and Roger Turner, 19, were arrested.
Turner confessed to his involvement and implicated Ford as the shooter. In October 1986, a Newton County jury convicted Ford of the murders of both Martha Matich and Lisa Chapman, as well as armed robbery, burglary, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was subsequently sentenced to death for the murders. Turner pleaded guilty and received a 20-year prison sentence; he was paroled in 1991. After numerous appeals, Melbert Ray Ford was executed by lethal injection on June 9, 2010.
