The Valentine's Day Massacre: Indiana's Forgotten Tragedy Trailer

Murder came quietly to rural Indiana on a cold February night in 1977. While the rest of the country was preparing for Valentine's Day celebrations, a family in Park County faced unimaginable horror when armed intruders entered their double-wide mobile home and changed their lives forever.

The case known locally as the "Valentine's Day Massacre" bears no relation to its famous Chicago namesake, but carries just as much weight for those who remember this shocking crime. Four brothers—Reeve, Ralph, Raymond, and Gregory—were systematically executed in their own home, while their mother Betty Spencer was shot but miraculously survived. The brutal, execution-style killings stunned the tight-knit communities of western Indiana, shattering the sense of security that small-town residents had long taken for granted.

What makes this case particularly chilling is its seemingly random nature. As we explore through original newspaper reports and local accounts, this wasn't a robbery gone wrong or a crime of passion—it was methodical, calculated violence that came "absolutely out of nowhere." The perpetrators forced their way into the home from multiple entrances, ordered the family to lie face down, and coldly fired shotgun blasts into each victim one by one.

The Valentine's Day Massacre of 1977 raises profound questions about safety in rural America and how communities cope when violence invades spaces previously thought immune to such tragedy. Was this a targeted attack? What happened to the investigation? And how did this brutal crime transform the outlook of an entire region? Join us as we uncover this forgotten piece of true crime history that continues to haunt western Indiana nearly five decades later.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 2 (02:06):
Now let's dive into today's crazy case.
This was suggested by one ofour amazing listeners.
It's called the Valentine's DayMassacre, but no, we're not
talking about the 1929 mob hitin Lincoln Park, chicago.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
No, we're talking about a tragedy right here in
the old Hoosier State, parkCounty, indiana, 1977.
This one hits hard because itwas just so shocking for the
small tight-knit communitiesaround where this crime went
down.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I'll be honest Researching this case gave me
chills.
This could have happened toanyone in a small town.
It just came out of absolutelynowhere.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Let's set the scene.
It's February 13, 1977, inRural Park County, inside a
double-wide mobile home.
Betty Spencer is at home withher family.
Her husband, Keith, had justleft for work, shortly before
1230 am.
Everyone else was likely tuckedin bed or getting ready to turn
in.
To tell this story as accurateas possible, we're going to read

(03:13):
from the first newspaperarticle published in the Brazil
Times on February 14, 1977.
The shocking headline in theBrazil Times said Four Murdered
in Rural Park County.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
And then it goes into detail.
Hollinsburg, indiana.
And then it goes into detail.
Hollinsburg, indiana.
Three or four gunmen forcedtheir way into a mobile home
along a remote country roadearlier today and blasted four
young brothers to death withshotguns in what resembled a
modern St Valentine's Daymassacre.
The victim's mother, bettySpencer, 43, also was shot, but

(03:54):
she survived and washospitalized first at Terre
Haute, about 25 miles south ofthis western Indiana town, then
transferred to Wishard MemorialHospital in Indianapolis, about
50 miles to the east.
Two suspects were questioned atthe Park County Jail in

(04:15):
Rockville but were not chargedimmediately.
Police said they were not surethe two had anything to do with
the killings.
Police said they were stilllooking for three to four
suspects.
The victims were identified asReeve B Spencer, 16, ralph
Spencer, 14, raymond Spencer, 17, and Gregory Brooks, 22.

(04:40):
Ms Spencer was the mother ofBrooks and the stepmother of the
other three children.
Her husband, keith, was at workin Indianapolis when the
shootings occurred.
Ms Spencer was able to tellpolice that two men forced their
way into the front of the homeand probably two others came in
the rear.
She was not positive.

(05:02):
The gunmen forced all five ofthem to lie on the floor face
down then blasted them one byone with one or more shotguns.
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