Ronnie Nile Fox, Corporal
McAlester Police Department
On Thursday morning, July 30, 1981, Corporal Fox, 38, McAlester Detective David Sheehan, 28, and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, Agent Bill Morgan, 29, were flying in a single engine aircraft looking for marijuana patches. About 8:20 A.M. the plane, piloted by Agent Morgan, crashed in the foothills of the Jack Fork Mountains, six miles northeast of Daisy, just inside Pittsburg County killing all three officers. His wife, Betty, survived Officer Fox.
Orin Henry “Ott” Reed,
Chief of Police
McAlester Police Department
Chief Orin “Ott” Reed had become very familiar with a gangster by the name of Frank Nash. He had assisted Federal agents in identifying and arresting Nash in Hot Springs, Arkansas. On Saturday, June 17, 1933, Chief Reed accompanied the agents in transporting Nash to Kansas City, Missouri. When the agents got off the train they proceeded to get into cars for the rest of the trip. Reed got in the back seat with two Federal agents when (allegedly) Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd, Adam Richette and Vern Miller opened fire on the agents and Chief Reed with machine guns in an apparent attempt to rescue Nash. Killed in the ambush were Frank Nash, Chief Reed, Kansas City officers Frank E. Hermanson and Will J. Grooms, and FBI Agent Raymond J. Caffrey. One witness stated that the first shot fired hit Nash in the back of the head. Nash was seated in the front seat. Speculation has been offered that Chief Reed fired that shot, either hitting Nash accidentally while trying fire at the machine gunners, or deliberately to make sure Nash was not rescued. Five months later, Vern Miller’s body was found dumped outside of Detroit, Michigan, apparently a gangland execution. Floyd was killed by the FBI in October of 1934 and Richetti was arrested the same month. Richetti was executed in 1938.
David J Sheehan, Detective
McAlester Police Department
On Thursday morning, July 30, 1981, Detective Sheehan, 28, along with Corporal Ronnie Fox, 38, and Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control Agent Billy Morgan, 29, were flying in a leased single-engine airplane looking for marijuana patches in Pittsburg County. Agent Morgan was the plane’s pilot. About 8:20 A.M. the plane came out of a cloud bank and Morgan had to put the plane in a steep climb to avoid a mountain. During the climb both wings cracked and the left wing fell off. The plane crashed in the foothills of the Jack Fork Mountains, six miles northeast of Daisy, just inside Pittsburg County killing all three officers.
Detective Sheehan was survived by his wife Shirley and young daughter Michele.