DENTON (UNT), Texas -- During the grand opening of a 1920s speakeasy, the Four Deuces, the lights suddenly go out and gun shots are heard. When the lights come back on, the speakeasy's owner, Big Jim Ravioli, is dead.

Who killed him? Audiences can decide for themselves at "Murder at the Four Deuces," a whodunit presented by the University of North Texas Nu Tau student chapter of Lambda Alpha Epsilon American Criminal Justice Association Feb. 26 (Friday).

"Murder at the Four Deuces" will be presented at both 5 p.m. with dinner served, and at 8 p.m. with dessert served. Tickets for the dinner show cost $70 for couples and $45 for individuals. Tickets for the dessert show cost $60 for couples and $40 for individuals. Both shows will take place in the ballroom of UNT's Gateway Center, located at 801 North Texas Boulevard. Tickets may be reserved online.

Those who attend are encouraged to wear costumes appropriate for a 1920s nightclub. Prizes will be given for the best costume and for the table of attendees that correctly identifies the murderer after watching interactions between the characters and listening to clues. The event will also include a silent auction and a canned food drive for the Denton Community Food Center. Those who bring a canned food item will be entered into a raffle.

All proceeds will help UNT criminal justice students attend the American Criminal Justice Association National Conference in Sacramento, California, March 20-24. During the conference, UNT's students will compete in academic exams, crime scene analysis, firearms and physical agility competitions.

Alyssa Joplin, president of the Nu Tau chapter and a senior criminal justice major at UNT, said the competitions "open many doors to great opportunities to work in the criminal justice field" and help students who are undecided about criminal justice careers "finalize their choice."

Joplin, who is also earning a criminalistics certificate from UNT's Department of Criminal Justice, competed in the physical agility, academic exam and crime scene competitions in November at the American Criminal Justice Association's Region 2 conference. She said the crime scene analysis, in which teams of students investigate blood, fingerprints and other evidence at a mock staged crime scene, was her favorite.

"It was so cool bringing everything I had learned in class together in one place," she said.

For more information on "Murder at the Four Deuces," contact Andra Lewis, lecturer in the Department of Criminal Justice and faculty sponsor of the Nu Tau chapter, at andra.lewis@unt.edu or 940-565-2989.