Richard D. Bell, Night Officer

Haileyville Police Department

The early morning of Wednesday, October 6, 1909, about 3 a.m. Night Officers Bell and Maybury were advised of a disturbance at a house. As the officers entered the house Officer Bell was shot in the face with a .45 cal revolver and killed. Two men and a woman named “Big Myrt” Smith were arrested and charged with Officer Bell’s murder. “Big Myrt” was the only one convicted of the officers death and received an 8 year prison sentence for manslaughter.