On the evening of November 30th, 2001, thirty-one-year-old Billy Brossman reported to work like any other night at the 7th & 70 Liquor Store in Terre Haute, Indiana. By the end of his shift, he would become the victim of a killing that still haunts investigators more than two decades later.
At approximately six thirty p.m., a man entered the liquor store, located near Interstate 70. Surveillance footage captured nearly every moment of what followed. The suspect appeared calm, even ordinary: he picked up beer, approached the counter, and then suddenly pulled a handgun on Billy.
Billy complied, handing over money from the register. But the crime did not end there.
Instead of fleeing, the gunman forced Billy into the back of the store. Moments later, he shot him once in the head, killing him instantly. The killer then fled the scene, leaving behind the beer and even some of the stolen cash, a detail that immediately struck investigators as strange. If robbery had been the motive, why leave money behind?
From the beginning, detectives sensed something off about the case. The killer’s behavior suggested control and deliberation rather than panic or desperation. The execution-style shooting, characterized by moving the victim to a secluded area before killing him, added another layer of mystery.
Even more unusual was the existence of clear surveillance footage. Police had a visible suspect, along with audio of the interaction between the two men. Yet despite these advantages, the case stalled.
Witness tips poured in after the footage was released. At one point, investigators even developed a person of interest and obtained a DNA sample. But no definitive match was ever made, and the evidence fell short of supporting an arrest.
As the investigation progressed, attention turned to a chilling possibility: the murder might be connected to the infamous I-70 Killer.
In 1992, this unidentified serial killer targeted store clerks, typically shooting them in the back of the head in small retail locations near Interstate 70. While most victims were women, the killer’s methods showed a consistent pattern: quick control, minimal theft, and execution-style killings.
Billy Brossman’s murder bore striking similarities to these previous crimes, involving a lone clerk working in a small retail store; a suspect who displayed calm, calculated behavior; a single gunshot to the back of the head; and minimal theft, suggesting robbery was not the primary motive.
The proximity added to the intrigue. Billy Brossman was killed just seven blocks from another earlier homicide tied to the I-70 investigation.
Because of these parallels, authorities publicly acknowledged that the 2001 murder could be a later crime by the same killer, though this has never been conclusively proven.
The surveillance footage, once considered a breakthrough, now stands as a haunting artifact: a clear image of a killer who walked in, committed a calculated execution, and disappeared into the night.
Despite promising leads over the years, the murder of Billy Brossman remains unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 