Crime Stoppers was the brain child of Canadian born Greg MacAleese, a Detective with the Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico in 1976. MacAleese had run out of leads in a homicide investigation in which a young gas station attendant was robbed then murdered. For no other apparent reason then to eliminate him as a witness the suspects blasted him twice with a sawed off shot gun prior to fleeing the scene. Since the gas station was located on a busy street corner and the murder took place during dusk hours, MacAleese decided to appeal to the public for assistance. He was aware that general apathy and fear of reprisal were two major prohibitions mitigating against the public coming forth with information concerning the crime.