Earl Marlin Heisler

In the late hours of a Tuesday in September 1978, Sergeant Earl Marlin Heisler, a 37-year-old White male, was dutifully patrolling James City County, Virginia. His attention was drawn to a suspicious vehicle occupied by three individuals parked behind the Ramada Inn West on Route 60. The area had been plagued by a string of burglaries at the nearby Stratford Hall Apartments, and Sergeant Heisler, a six-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, was exercising heightened vigilance.

As he approa ...