On August 28, 1988, eighty-six-year-old Lula Bell McAfee was found murdered in her Atlanta, Georgia, home. A roommate discovered her naked body lying face-down on her bed. An autopsy later determined that she had been strangled to death with a strip of cloth and had also been sexually assaulted. Evidence suggested the perpetrator had gained entry to her home through a bathroom window, as the screen had been removed and was found on the ground outside.
The bedroom had been completely ransacked, and a briefcase, car keys, and money were reported missing.
The investigation into the death of Lula Bell McAfee was part of a larger inquiry into a series of similar homicides in the Atlanta area. Law enforcement eventually identified Lyndon Fitzgerald Pace as the primary suspect in the murders of McAfee and three other women: Mattie Mae McClendon, Johnnie Mae Martin, and Annie Kate Britt. The attacks all occurred in the early morning hours, and the perpetrator entered each home through a window before sexually assaulting and strangling the victims.
Lyndon Fitzgerald Pace, who had known Lula Bell McAfee since he was a baby, was arrested and stood trial for the murders. A jury ultimately convicted Pace of four counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, four counts of rape, and two counts of aggravated sodomy. Following the conviction, the jury recommended a death sentence for each of the murder convictions, citing numerous statutory aggravating circumstances.
