Do you know who killed Betty Conley 27 years ago?
On a quiet country road in Charlton, New York, the overnight shift at the Xtra-Mart convenience store was a typically solitary affair. For 37-year-old Betty Conley, a white female, the early hours of Thursday, July 8, 1993, were no different, until an unidentified individual shattered the peace. Conley was discovered deceased behind the counter, the victim of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. The motive appeared to be robbery, as approximately $100 was missing from the cash register.
The investigation that followed painted a grim picture of the final moments of Conley's life. Authorities believe the perpetrator entered the store on State Route 67 and Peaceable Road at approximately 2:10 a.m. and committed the fatal act. A customer who stopped in at 3:00 a.m. made the tragic discovery and alerted the police. The store was equipped with a security camera, but it was not the type that recorded footage for later review and was ultimately broken by the assailant.
Witnesses provided a description of a man they had seen in the vicinity around the time of the murder. They described a white male, estimated to be between 30 and 35 years old, standing about 6 feet 2 inches tall with a medium build. He was reportedly clean-shaven with shoulder-length blonde hair and was wearing a peach-colored tank top. A mid-1980s white four-door sedan with rust on the driver's side door, partially covered with primer, was also seen in the parking lot.
Despite these leads, the case has remained unsolved for decades. Betty Conley's husband, Bruce, was thoroughly investigated and cleared, having passed a polygraph test and his personal firearms not matching the weapon used in the homicide. The tragic event left a deep wound in the community and in the lives of her husband and two children, who were 17 and 15 at the time. The case remains open, a cold case that continues to haunt the small town, with no arrests ever having been made. The parent company of the Xtra-Mart has maintained a reward for information that leads to the arrest of the individual responsible for Betty Conley's murder.
