Robert "Bob" Burden, Officer

Okmulgee Police Department

On Monday, May 16, 1921, two robbers invaded the home of Mr. And Mrs. J. R. Harrison at 1504 East Sixth in Okmulgee, stealing several thousand dollars worth of jewelry. Officers Burden and M. E. Spence quickly drove to the scene after alert neighbors called the Police Station. Officer Spence parked the car as Burden got out and started toward the house. Burden was shot three times in the chest by the two robbers who were leaving the house. The men then shot Officer Spence as he sat behind the steering wheel trying to get his gun out. Burden died on way to the hospital.

Henry Klaber, Assistant Chief

Okmulgee Police Department

On Sunday, November 15, 1908, Jimmy Grayson had filed a complaint against a black gunsmith named Newt Decker over an argument about a day’s catch of fish. Chief Klaber and Grayson went to Decker’s house at Second and Creek Street. As the men approached the house, Decker, an expert shot, ran out shooting with guns in both hands. The Chief was shot in the throat and died soon after. Two brothers, Ralph and Felix Chapman, ran to Chief Klaber’s aid, firing at Decker with the fallen officer’s gun. Decker shot and killed both brothers then ran back in his house. Other officers responded and the gunfight lasted over an hour with over 500 shots being fired. Okmulgee County Deputy Sheriff Edgar Robinson was also killed with two other officers wounded as well as three bystanders. The officers finally set the house next to Decker’s on fire. The fire spread to Decker’s house. As Decker came to the door he was shot and fell back inside the house to burn to death. Chief Klaber, 39, was survived by his wife and four children.


 

William Edgar Robinson, Sheriff 

Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office 

Newt Decker, a black man, and Jimmy Grayson, a Creek Indian, got into an argument over a day’s catch of fish on Sunday, November 15, 1908. Both men had been drinking. Grayson made a complaint with the Assistant Chief of Police Henry Klaber. Grayson and Klaber made a search for Decker and found him in a shack at 2^nd and Creek streets in Okmulgee.

Decker was a gunsmith by trade and a crack shot with a rifle and pistol. Decker, on seeing the police approach, burst out the front door with a pistol in each hand. Decker shot Assistant Chief Klaber in the throat without warning. Grayson ran for help. Two brothers, Felix and Ralph Chapman, were deputized by Assistant Chief Klaber to assist him. When they saw Chief Klaber shot and dying, they picked up his gun and fired at Decker. Decker returned fire and killed both brothers. Police Chief Dick Farr road up and tried to assist the fallen Klaber. Decker shot Farr in the right shoulder. Chief Farr took a shot at Decker with his left hand and felt he struck Decker because he saw him whirl around as he fired.

Undaunted, Decker wounded Chief Farr again in the arm. Edgar Robinson, the first elected Sheriff of Okmulgee County, arrived on the scene and was shortly shot dead by Decker. The battle lasted more than an hour with an excess of 500 shots being fired. As they couldn’t get too close to Decker’s house, they set fire to the house next door with coal oil. After Decker’s house caught on fire, Decker came to the door. He was hit by gunfire and fell back into the flames. 

Five men died: Decker, Assistant Chief Klaber, the two Chapman brothers and Sheriff Robinson. Chief Farr and a deputy sheriff were wounded along with six bystanders.

Sheriff Robinson was survived by his wife and two young children.

Homer R. Spaulding, Captain 

Okmulgee Police Department 

Early on the morning of Sunday, January 8, 1922, Captain Spaulding, Detective Mark Lairmore and Patrolman M.E. Spence decided to pile into a single car and tour the central section of the city after receiving a hot tip that a robbery of the local jewelry store was planned.  About 3:10 A.M. the lawmen spotted a big Buick touring sedan parked along the roadside. Two men were working on the engine of the vehicle while several others were sitting inside. Spaulding, who was driving, parked the police cruiser in front of the Buick with the headlights pointing directly towards the Buick. The lawmen stepped from their cruiser and approached the car. Spaulding asked if they needed any assistance. One of the men leaning over the engine stated they could use a flashlight. Officer Larimore eased toward the back of the suspect car to get a look at the occupants. Noticing several shotguns and rifles lying on the back seat he commented to his fellow officers to “be careful boys, they are armed.” At that moment one of the men working on the engine pulled a gun and shot Spaulding in the thigh. Shots were fired back and forth with Lairmore being struck in the leg. Lairmore shot one of the men in the arm. Both Lairmore and Spence shot the man in the head that had shot Spaulding. Lairmore also notice a man inside the car trying to load a shotgun and fired several rounds in the car wounding the suspect. At this point, two other suspects bolted from the car running as fast as they could. Lairmore and Spence both shot in the direction of the fleeing men. A blood trail was later found indicating that at least one of the fleeing assailants had been hit.

At the end of the mayhem, one suspect was dead, two were wounded and two had fled on foot, which at least one was also wounded. Captain Spaulding was transported to the Okmulgee Hospital for treatment; he was bleeding badly from his leg wound. Lairmore rushed home to show his wife the bullet wound in his leg and she insisted he go to the hospital for treatment as well. After a night in the hospital, he was released.

When officers search the crime scene they found various weapons, a bottle of nitroglycerin and an assortment of burglary tools.  The following day, Tulsa authorities officially identified the dead bandit as Jimmy Sexton, a small time hood from the Tulsa’s Central Park neighborhood.  Meanwhile, Captain Spaulding was rushed to surgery and was listed in stable condition.  A few days later, the hospital put out the word that Spaulding was bleeding internally and had taken a turn for the worse. His wife and son were sent for. The doctors decided to perform another emergency operation. Spaulding reportedly whispered to Chief Farr, he didn’t think he would make it through the night. He died on the operating table. Captain Spaulding was given a hero’s funeral with over 500 persons in attendance.

Ed Lansing was convicted of first degree murder and given the death penalty. On appeal the sentence was reduced to life in prison. Frank Hadley tried to claim self-defense but the jury wasn’t convinced. He was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. His lawyer promptly appealed and the Oklahoma Court of Appeals overturned the verdict and he was set free.  Volney David and “Doc” Barker were convicted of the murder of the St. John’s night watchman and a Tulsa County jury sentenced both to life in prison. Davis was given a leave of absence from the penitentiary in 1932. He rejoined his old partner “Doc” Barker, who had since been released from prison, in time to assist him and his gang with the Bremer kidnapping job and several bank robberies. It was suspected but never proven that Davis had been granted his leave due to a payoff arranged by the Barker Gang to a state official. He was captured on 1935 by the FBI and given life imprisonment at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Volney Davis died in 1978 in Oregon.

Robert C. Tyree, Officer 

Okmulgee Police Department