Murder in Isle 9.

I'm Jason Horton.

I'm Rebecca Leeb.

And this is Ghost Town.

In 2007, the Atlanta-based band Attractive 80s women recorded a song with some strangely specific lyrics, including, quote,

It's a grocery store with a deadly twist. You'll get shot in the head for your shopping list.

It's the worst place to shop in all of Atlanta.

You could lose your life over 12 pack of fanta. The song was not being hyperbolic. In fact,

it served as a cautionary tale for the unconventional and innocuous location of many violent murders and crimes. And yes, it was a supermarket. The grocery store began

being the subject of folk fascination, not one quickly forgotten and lovingly referred to as,

quote, the murder Kroger. Kroger's supermarkets were founded in 1889 by Barney Kroger, who poured his life

savings of $372 into his first grocery store in Cincinnati. Over the years, the grocery chain

expanded exponentially to nearly 3,000 stores in nearly three dozen states. On July 2, 1986, the country's newest Kroger, Kroger's store

number 295, opened for business at 725 Ponce de Leon Avenue in the historic Ponzi

Highland area of Atlanta. Its whole bright, shiny grocery store life ahead of it. But even then, it was not without controversy.

To the neighborhood, the Kroger signaled the area had lost its edge, its city vibe.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, one local said they were disappointed about the store's opening, stating,

I like seeing winos, I like seeing an occasional

hooker, I like seeing the seedier side of life. The first four years of Kroger Store 295's

young life were generally uneventful, but in January 1990, the first of many terrifying events

occurred, jump-starting the store's sordid reputation as being one of inexplicable

violence. In January 1990, police found a bomb-like device inside the store, complete with blinking

...