WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a 1984 murder case that stunned the District for its brutality, involving the gruesome killing of a mother of six.
Catherine Fuller, 48, was attacked on a Northeast D.C. street, dragged into an alley, beaten and sodomized with a pipe.
Eight young men — including teenagers — were said to be members of the gang “Eighth and H Crew” and were convicted of the killing.
They served decades in prison. One died behind bars.
The remaining seven are asking the high court to find that prosecutors withheld evidence, which could have pointed to a solo killer rather than the gang attack outlined by police.
The hearing invokes the memory of a Washington, D.C., that was far different from it is today.
Instead of today’s bustling night life of clubs and restaurants, the H Street corridor was pockmarked by boarded-up buildings and a crack-cocaine epidemic that was in full swing.
Over the past few years, a judge and then the D.C. Court of Appeals refused to overturn the men’s convictions.
The Supreme Court will have the final say on whether the seven were properly convicted of Catherine Fuller’s murder. A ruling could be issued in June.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
