Seven men who were found guilty in a high-profile murder case that shocked D.C. nearly 30 years will get a hearing next week to determine whether they were wrongfully convicted. In the mid-1980s, residents of the District were not yet hardened by the crack cocaine-fueled violence to come. But Catherine Fuller’s slaying and the subsequent trial received extensive news coverage.

In the late afternoon of Oct. 1, 1984, Fuller — a tiny 48-year-old grandmother — was dragged into a Northeast D.C. alley near H and Eighth streets and beaten, sodomized with a pole, and robbed of $50 in cash and a ring.