Elmer Lee Sartor, Patrolman
Elmer Lee Sartor,
Patrolman
Oklahoma City Police Department
On Monday, August 20, 1934, Officer Sartor was a motorcycle officer escorting U.S. Postmaster General James Farley from Oklahoma City to Wichita, Kansas. On Highway 77 south of Ponca City, one of the wheels of Sartor’s motorcycle locked up and caused him to crash. The 28-year-old officer died a few hours later from a fractured skull. Elmer Lee Sartor had joined the Oklahoma City Police Department on March 8, 1932.
Hilton Elmore Schorre, Deputy U S Marshal
U. S. Marshals
On Tuesday, March 30, 1971, Deputy Schorre and his Guard Mercello Moya had transported three prisoners from Texas to the El Reno Federal Prison and were then transporting two other prisoners from El Reno to the Federal Prison in Texarkana, Texas. About 4:45 P.M. they were south bound on I-35, seven miles north of Pauls Valley when a truck pulled off the shoulder of the highway in front of them. Deputy Schorre swerved to avoid the truck, lost control of his car, crossed the center median and struck a north bound vehicle. Deputy Schorre, 58, was killed almost instantly. Guard Moya and both prisoners died a few hours later in a Pauls Valley hospital. The driver of the north bound car survived his injuries. Deputy Schorre had served with the U S Border Patrol for ten years before becoming a Deputy U S Marshal in 1952. Deputy Schorre lived in Corpus Christi, Texas and was survived by his wife Marion.
John H. Scott, City Marshal
City of Quinton
On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 17, 1918, at about 4:00 P.M., Marshal Scott was fatally shot in the back of the head by Mack (Mike) Daniels, a Choctaw Indian. The details are sketchy but Daniels was apparently with two other Choctaw Indians at the time. George Jones had been placed in jail earlier in the day for being drunk. George’s father, Willie, was accompanying Marshal Scott to get George out of jail. George Jones was hit in the arm by a stray shot during the incident. Scott, described as “about 50”, was survived by his wife and son. Daniels was arrested and pled guilty to murdering Marshal Scott.
Sam Scott, Assistant Chief of Police
Chickasha Police Department
Officer Moody and Assistant Chief Scott of the Chickasha Police Department and Grady County Deputy Sheriff Walter Jones on Wednesday, September 29, 1918, at about 6:00 P.M. went to the Rock Island bridge looking for two deserters from the Ft. Sill Army base. When the deserters were spotted, the officers yelled for them to surrender but instead of surrendering they began running away. Deputy Jones was able to capture Fred Woodall, one of the deserters. Woodall was left in the custody of Chief Scott while Moody and Jones pursued the other man. Their efforts were in vain and the other man escaped. When the officers returned, they discovered the other deserter gone and Chief Scott shot through the liver and kidneys. Assistant Chief Scott died from his wounds on October 4th. Fred E. Woodall was captured on October 2nd near Ninnekah. He convinced officers that the other deserter, Virgie Kitson, was the one who shot Chief Scott. Virgie Kitson was tried and convicted of murdering Assistant Chief Sam Scott. He was sentenced to life in prison. Chief Scott had only been on the police force for about two months before he was shot. Chief Scott was survived by his wife and son.
Sam Scott, Captain
Creek Lighthorse Police Indian Territory
Between 1878 and 1883, a civil war erupted between factions of Creek Indians. A party of about seventy-five men visited the neighborhood of the Sands men, in the northwestern part of the Creek Nation, and arrested a notorious character. They placed the notorious character in the charge of Captain Sam Scott and three Lighthorse. . On Sunday, July 30, 1882, about daylight, a company of Sands men attacked the Lighthorse, rescued the prisoner and murdered Captain Scott in cold blood. He was held by the hands by men on either side of him while others filled his body with bullets. His body was pulled and torn and shot until it was nearly unrecognizable. Joe Barnett, a colored Creek Lighthorse, in trying to aid his captain was also fatally shot. In April of 1883, several men were captured and taken to their respective districts to be turned over to the civil authorities for trial. One of the men, He-ne-ha Chupko, tried to escape but the guards fired on him, killing him instantly. He was one of the leaders in the killing of Captain Sam Scott and his deputy, Joe Barnett.
George Selridge, Posseman, Deputy U S Marshal
U. S. Marshals
George Selridge was one of 11 people killed, and as many as 19 wounded on April 15, 1872, at a schoolhouse east of Tahlequah, near the modern town of Christie in Adair County in the Going Snake District of the Cherokee Nation. Zeke Proctor was being tried by the Cherokee Nation at the schoolhouse for accidentally killing a widow named Polly Beck Hildebrand. The relatives of Polly convinced the federal court at Fort Smith to intervene in the case. The U S Commissioner issued an arrest warrant for Proctor on a charge of assault with intent to kill to Deputy U S Marshals Jacob G Owens and Joseph S Peavey. The Deputies led a posse including friends and relatives of Polly to the schoolhouse. As the federal posse entered the schoolhouse a massive gun battle erupted. Possemen Black Sut Beck, Sam Beck, William Hicks, George Selridge, James Ward and Riley Woods were killed that day. Deputy Owens and Posseman William Beck died the next day from their wounds.
James Alexander “Daddy”
Sewell, Deputy Sheriff
Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office
One of the best known and most popular deputy sheriff’s in 1925 was a man named J.A. Sewell. Deputy Sewell came to Tulsa County from Lawrence County, Missouri, in the pioneer days. He was a cotton buyer in Bixby until Bob Sanford was elected sheriff in 1923. Sewell became a deputy sheriff by a personal selection by newly elected Sheriff Sanford. To all of his fellow deputies, he was known simply as “Daddy” Sewell. Deputy Sewell was the transportation deputy for the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. He lived in Bixby, with his wife and four children, and was 56 at the time of his death. Sewell was described as “one of the most courageous and kindly-hearted men who ever wore a star.” On Tuesday, March 24, 1925, Deputy Sewell was transporting three inmates to their respective correctional facilities. After dropping off Daniel Scott, 14, at the Pauls Valley industrial school, Sewell proceeded to Chickasha, where he customarily stopped overnight on his trips to the Oklahoma Reformatory in Granite where he was taking Howard Love, 16, and Ernest Huges, 20. Before being transported back to Granite, Hughes was overhead to say he “was going to pull something” if he got the chance. When Deputy Sewell and his prisoners were about 15 miles east of Chickasha, Love claimed that while Deputy Sewell was taking off his coat, Hughes grabbed the officer’s pistol and shot him to death. Deputy Sewell staggered from the car and fell to the ground. Love claimed that Sewell’s last words were, “It’s a shame to do an old man this way.” The two prisoners shot the handcuffs off their wrists and placed Deputy Sewell’s body in his car. They drove to a nearby farmhouse and placed Sewell in the front yard. The entire Sheriff’s office was stunned at the news of Sewell’s death. The inmates in the County Jail even mourned the death of Deputy Sewell. Most of the inmates had known “daddy” Sewell due to his assignment as transportation deputy. The inmates knew him for “his kindness in handling them and his sympathy for unfortunates generally.” Both Love and Huges were later apprehended after a statewide manhunt and charged with murder in Grady County where the shooting had occurred. Both defendants blamed each other for shooting Deputy Sewell, but Howard Love would be convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.
Lafayette Shadley,
Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
In 1892, while serving as a deputy marshal out of the federal court in Guthrie, Lafayette Shadley had been involved in a gunfight with Doolin gang member “Dynamite Dick” Clifton in the Osage Nation. Although Clifton was able to escape, Shadley wounded him in the neck. The next time they met, the fortunes would be turned. On the morning of Friday, September 1,1893, a small group of Deputy U.S. Marshals entered the small town of Ingalls, Oklahoma Territory where it was reported that several members of the Doolin gang were hold up. The posse consisting of thirteen marshals including John W. Hixon, Dick Speed, Henry Keller, George Cox, M.A. Iauson, H.A. “Hi” Thomson, and two brothers, Thomas J. & Hamilton B. Hueston, were quickly met with heavy resistance from members of the Doolin gang. Deputy Marshal Speed was the first to be hit, receiving two bullets from the rifle of “Arkansas Tom” Jones who was perched in an upstairs window. The next officer to be fatally wounded was Thomas Hueston who had also been shot twice by “Arkansas Tom” Jones. The final marshal to be dispatched was Lafayette Shadley who received fatal wounds. Thus ending the killing at the Battle of Ingalls.
W.R. “Dick” Shaver, Deputy U.S. Marshal and City Marshal
U.S. Marshals
City of Boley
W. R. “Dick” Shaver was serving as a Deputy U.S. Marshal and the first City Marshal of Boley when he was shot in the back the evening of Monday, August 14, 1905. Marshal Shaver went out about 8:00 P.M. three miles to Andy Simmons’ house to arrest him for horse stealing. While Shaver was sitting on his horse about twenty feet from the fence of George Johnson talking to him, Dick Simmons, Andy’s brother, came from a blind road around the fence at Shaver’s back and without warning fired on Shaver with a Winchester rifle. Marshal Shaver, a noted marksman, was able to return fire and kill his assailant before he himself died. Marshal Shaver was survived by his wife and four small children.
Lester A. (Chester) Shearhart, Chief of Police
Vinita Police Department
On the night of Friday, May 4, 1945, Chief Shearhart and two other officers went to the farmhouse of Silas Hardrick. The officers were searching for a forgery suspect. When they arrived at the farmhouse, Hardrick told the officers the man they were looking for was in the barn behind the house. While the officers went to the barn, Hardrick came out of the house and hid in a ditch with a twelve-guage shotgun. Locating no one in the barn, Shearhart came back to the front of the house. As he came back around to the front of the house, Hardrick shot him in the heart, wounding him fatally. Shearhart died 30 minutes later at a hospital in Vinita. Hardrick was arrested by the other officers and charged with murder. Chief Shearhart, 44, was survived by his wife, four sons and one grandchild. He was serving the remainder of the term of the previous Chief who had resigned. Shearhart had been elected to the Chief’s position the previous March and had been due to take office to begin serving his own term on May 7th.
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.
James Sam Shelley, City Marshal and Deputy Sheriff
City of Pershing
Osage County Sheriff’s Office
On Wednesday, May 11, 1921, Sam Shelley, Deputy Sheriff of Osage County and City Marshal of Pershing, was shot and killed by two bandits whom he attempted to arrest. Shelley found the men attempting to break into a railroad freight car. After shooting the officer the men escaped in an auto, previously stolen from Pawhuska. The car was later recovered, but the men were not captured. A $1,500 reward was offered for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who shot and killed James S. Shelley.
Charles Edwin "Ed" Short,
Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
Charley Bryant was regarded to be a restless and reckless individual who suffered with occasional dysfunctions. Bryant’s nickname was “Black-Faced Charley” because of powder burns from a gun fired too closely to his head resulting in permanently darkened spots on his face. Bryant always stated that when he died he wanted to go “in one hell-firin’ minute of action.” Bryant had become acquainted with Emmett Dalton, Bill Doolin, “Bitter Creek” Newcomb and others while working on cattle ranches. He was involved in robbing the Texas Express with these men, headed by Bob Dalton, on May 9, 1891. A couple months later another train robbery was in the works when Bryant became quite ill having to take a room at a local hotel. Ed Short, a Deputy U.S. Marshal and Hennessey’s City Marshal, was out of town when Bryant became ill. When Short returned to Hennessey he was told of the doctor’s new patient staying at the local hotel. Short took an opportunity to observe the patient with his knowledge and felt confident that he was one of the “wanted men.” With the cooperation of the hotel owner, Short set forth to capture Bryant. By the time Bryant realized someone else was in his room, Short had him covered and the suspect couldn’t grab either of his guns. Bryant was denied his real “blazing moment of glory.” Deputy Short took Bryant on the Rock Island train the next evening heading for the federal jail at Wichita, Kansas. Short placed Bryant in the baggage car figuring this would be the safest place fearing the Daltons would try to rescue their cohort. Deputy Short surmised that if they Daltons did plan a rescue attempt they would most likely attack at Waukomis, the first station north of Hennessey. When the train started to slow for that scheduled stop, Short handed his gun to a mail clerk and asked him to watch Bryant while he stepped out on the platform for “a look out.” The mail clerk was not overly excited about his new assignment and when Short left, he laid the pistol aside. Bryant immediately noticed and decided to make a break for freedom. Bryant, with great gusto, sprang to his feet and grabbed the unattended revolver. “Black-Faced Charley” Bryant rushed to the exit, opened the door and saw his target standing on the platform. Deputy Short realizing the door was opening, turned and saw Bryant raising the pistol. Bryant fired then Short returned fire. Both men were shot. Each man continued shooting until Bryant fell and began sliding off the railroad car. Even though Short was mortally wounded, he grabbed his prisoner and pulled him back on the platform. When the train arrived at Waukomis, O. T. the evening of Sunday, August 23,1891, the prisoner was dead and Deputy Short was dying.
Kevin Simmons,
Patrolman
Spencer Police Department
Kevin Simmons would have turned 23 on Monday, December 13, 1983, instead it was his funeral. Officer Simmons was shot through the right cheek on Thursday, December 9, 1983 at 2:30 a.m. after a routine traffic stop. He died less than two hours later at Oklahoma Memorial Hospital. Authorities began searching for Tollie Earl Melvin and Scott L. Moore when their driver’s licenses were discovered in Simmons pocket at the hospital. Simmons radioed the description and tag number of the vehicle he was stopping. The car was registered to a Chickasha resident who said later that he had loaned the car to Melvin and Moore. Scott Moore was arrested at the Grady Memorial Hospital in Chickasha where he had gone to have a gunshot wound treated. He was moved to an undisclosed Oklahoma City Hospital where he was under guard. Melvin was arrested without incident on Sunday, December 12, 1983 at a local residence. He was then taken to the Oklahoma County Jail. Melvin and Moore were tried for the murder of Officer Kevin Simmons. Melvin was convicted and given a life sentence. Officer Kevin Simmons’ body was transported back to Chicago to his mother for burial.
John A. Simms, Sergeant
Ardmore Police Department
Simms was the night desk sergeant for the Ardmore Police Department. At about 1:30 A.M. on Thursday, May 20, 1920, Simms’ fifty-sixth birthday, two men, Claude Pruitt and Dick Crotzer, arrived at the Police Station from a fishing trip to return a flashlight they had borrowed. Evidently, as a prank, Pruitt and Crotzer unloaded their only catch, a large opossum, on the floor of the office. The animal was dirty and a nuisance and Sgt. Simms ordered it taken out. Pruitt was reluctant to remove the animal, and Sgt. Simms ordered Patrolman Fred Emmerson to remove the animal and Pruitt. Sgt. Simms seeing what he thought was a gun in Pruitt’s pocket ordered the patrolman to arrest him and take charge of the gun. At which time Pruitt jumped into his car and drove off. He turned around at the corner of A and First streets and came back to the station. Sgt. Simms came to the door and walked toward the car apparently intending to arrest Pruitt. Pruitt warned him not to come near the car, but Simms kept walking toward it. Pruitt drew an automatic and fired nine shots, five of which struck Simms, killing him instantly. Two of the bullets barely missed Patrolman Emmerson. Pruitt was immediately placed under arrest and taken to jail. Sergeant John A. Simms was survived by his wife and four children who were preparing a birthday party for him that day.
John W Sims – Sheriff
Harmon County Sheriffs Office
On June 2, 1909, Governor C. N. Haskell signed a proclamation establishing a new county called Harmon County from the western part of Greer County in southwest Oklahoma. Harmon County then became the 76th county in Oklahoma with the county seat at Hollis. That evening a full slate of county officials was sworn in, including John W. Sims as the first Sheriff. Sims was a well respected citizen of Greer County before becoming Sheriff of the new county. About three months later at 2:15 a.m. the morning of Tuesday, August 31, 1909, Sims was asleep at home with his wife Mary in Hollis when a shot rang out. His wife who had been sick was slow to fully wake up and see that her husband had been shot in the head. Later examination would reveal that the bullet entered just below and behind the right ear, ranging slightly upward, and coming out just above and a little in front of his left ear. The bullet was found buried within the pillow beneath the Sheriff’s head. The Sheriff and his wife had been sleeping with their heads at opposite ends of the bed. The Sheriff’s own 45 caliber Colt revolver, which he slept with under his pillow, was used to kill him. An inquest was held and later a special session of the grand jury was called for the purpose of investigating the murder. Both determined that the Sheriff was murdered. A young man named Bart Roberts, who lived on the Sims’ farm 15 miles from Hollis, was arrested for the murder on word of the Sheriff’s wife. The day after he was arrested Mrs. Sims shot Roberts in the right shoulder when he was taken to court. He was later released and no one else was ever charged with the murder.
William H. Singletary,
Deputy Sheriff
Washita County, O. T.
On Saturday, May 6, 1899, Deputy Singletary attempted to subdue a drunken cattleman, Sid Davidson, to quell a disturbance in Combs. Davidson shot the deputy fatally and escaped. After dodging officers for several months, Davidson finally surrendered himself but died from pneumonia before his trial began. Deputy Singletary’s wife had died two years earlier from blood poisoning after childbirth. He was buried beside her next to a lilac bush on the southeast corner of a crossroads at the top of a hill four miles west of Sentinel. He was survived by four sons and a daughter.
Samuel Sixkiller, Deputy
U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
In 1880, Sam Sixkiller became the first appointed Captain of the United States Indian Police
of the Five Civilized Tribes commanding 40 officers in Muskogee.
In 1886, Sixkiller became involved in a gunfight
with Jess Nicholson in which Sixkiller wounded Nicholson. Nicholson eventually
died from his wounds. Nicholson was a friend of hot-tempered Dick Vann and once
had been arrested for harboring Vann from the marshals. Vann was also arrested
once by Sixkiller during which Sixkiller allegedly kicked him. Vann threatened
to kill Sixkiller for that.
David Sizemore (Sigemore), Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
David Sizemore was administered the oath of office as a Deputy U.S. Marshal of the Fort Smith court on August 20, 1889. He was also a commissioned police officer with the U.S. Indian Police. He was reported as having been killed on Thursday, July 31, 1890, on the Deep Fork Creek near Muskogee. The suspect was listed as Frank Hawkins, described both as a full blood Euchee Indian and a mixed blood Creek/Seminole, whom Sizemore was trying to arrest for murder. Sizemore had placed Hawkins under arrest and was on his way to Ft. Smith with Hawkins. The Deputy had set up camp for the night on the Deep Fork Creek close to Okmulgee. Hawkins was able to grab a Winchester rifle and fire on Sizemore shooting him several times before escaping. The federal and Creek authorities searched for Hawkins, but were unsuccessful. For four years deputy U.S. Marshals searched for Hawkins, coming close several times. Hawkins always eluded the Marshals. On Saturday, July 21, 1894, Hawkins was shot and killed by two “friends,” Sam Chocota and Billy Narcome, who had been making plans to capture Hawkins for the reward of $500. Sizemore was buried in Muskogee. Sizemore is not listed on the Fort Smith Honor Roll of slain deputies. His surname is spelled “Sigemore” on the list maintained by the U.S. Marshals Service.
James Albert “Bert” Slay, Patrolman
Tulsa Police Department
Officer Slay, 28, a seven-year veteran of the force, was injured on October 28, 1986, when his patrol car slipped out of gear, rolled from a parked position and pinned him against a beer truck at which time he was issuing a traffic ticket. Police report that the driver of the beer truck backed the vehicle off Slay and radioed for help. Officer Slay died in a Tulsa hospital on November 10, 1986, from a blood clot resulting from a fractured pelvis he suffered in the accident on October 28th. The officers at the department were “getting comfortable” with the fact that it had been a couple weeks since the accident and thought Slay would recover. Officer Slay was working downtown patrol from the department’s Uniform Division West when the accident occurred. He was preparing the motorcycle training for the department and was to begin that training the following week. Officer Slay was survived by his wife, Marilyn, a 6 year old daughter and 22 month old son.
Elijah Columbas "Bill" Smith, Night Officer
Byars Police Department
About 6 a.m. on Sunday, June 27,1937, the body of Elijah Columbas “Bill” Smith, night officer at Byars, was discovered in the rear of the Milford Hardware store. Smith had apparently surprised two robbers who had entered the store and stolen several guns. Smith was shot twice from behind and beaten to death. An investigation determined that the murder occurred at approximately 2:30 A.M. Two suspects were identified, W.H. Bybee, an escapee from Texas, and Hiram Prather. Bybee’s fingerprints were found on Smith’s flashlight. Bybee was killed in a gunfight with Arkansas State Police near Monticello on July 20th. Hiram Prather, while attempting an escape from the McAlester State Penitentary in August of 1941, caused the death of Warden Jess Dunn. He was executed in July of 1943 for Dunn’s death. Elijah Columbas Smith, a single man, had been the night police officer for about one month. He was a carpenter by trade.
Franke E Smith, Sheriff
Caddo County Sheriffs Office
The morning of January 15, 1902, Deputy Beck and Sheriff Smith went to a cabin three miles east of Fort Cobb to arrest some men who robbed a man the night before in Anadarko. The officers called for the men to come out but officers were greeted by gunfire. The first volley wounded Deputy Beck four times, killing him. Sheriff Smith was shot and killed shortly afterwards.
George Smith, Territorial Deputy Sheriff
Grant County
On the evening of Saturday, May 25, 1901, William Campbell, a local drunk, got in an argument with three other black men in front of the J.G. Knox Saloon. Campbell was also known as “Nigger Bill.” Campbell started to draw his gun but John Fisher, a gambler, drew his first and hit Campbell over the head. Fisher dropped his gun while continuing to pistol-whip Campbell. Deputy Smith, who happened by at that moment, bent over to pick up Fisher’s weapon. Before he could stand back up, Campbell shot Deputy Smith over the left eye. Campbell was overpowered and dragged to jail by a local banker who witnessed the shooting. Bill Campbell was dragged from the jail about midnight by an unruly mob of about 400 people who took him back to the scene of the crime and lynched him from a telephone pole. Two hours later, Deputy Smith died from his wounds. The 25-year-old officer, unmarried, had been a deputy for about three years.
Henry Smith, Posseman, Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
On Monday, January 17, 1887, four lawmen, Henry Smith, Mark Kuykendall, and William Kelly, the posse for Deputy U.S. Marshal John Phillips, arrested Seaborn Green (also known as Kalijah) an eighteen-year-old Creek Indian who was wanted on a federal warrant for a whiskey charge. After the arrest the lawmen established a campsite near Hillabee, I.T. Deputy Phillips left the three posseman in charge of Green while he returned to Eufaula on business. The three possemen agreed to take turns watching the prisoner during the night. Henry Kelly drew the first watch. Sometime during the night, either Kelly fell asleep or was surprised by Green who had obtained the camp axe. Kelly was struck in the neck by the axe, with his head almost severed. Green then used the axe on Kuykendall and Smith striking them both in the head killing them. Green then piled logs around the bodies and set fire to the bed clothing and logs to burn the bodies.
The following day Phillips returned to the gruesome site at the camp. His entire posse was dead and Green was gone. Phillips discovered that all weapons had been taken from the camp. He buried his fellow lawmen near the campsite and then went to find Green.
For the next eleven days Phillips looked for Green. He finally located and arrested him on January 28th. Green tried to claim it was an unknown person who had entered the camp and killed the three posse. At his trial held in Ft. Smith on July 13, 1887, Green was found guilty of three counts of murder after he admitted he had committed all three murders alone. Seaborn Green was sentenced to death by hanging and the sentence was carried out on October 7, 1887 when he was hung on the courthouse property.
Hershel (Herschel) Smith, Sergeant
Chickasha Police Department
Around midnight on Friday the 13th of March, 1936, Sergeant Smith, 30, was on duty in the Chickasha Police station. Two other law enforcement officers, Jim Sivley, a Chickasha officer, and a federal agent from Lawton, Oliver Cornelius, were checking out a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun while in the communications area. Sivley took the shotgun down from a window sill to show it to Cornelius. When Sivley closed the breech of the shotgun, it accidentally discharged, striking Sgt. Smith, who was standing close by, in the right leg just above the knee. Sgt. Smith was taken to the hospital. Gangrene rapidly set in the wound and Herschel Smith died on the night of March 16th.
Larry Bruce Smith, Trooper
Oklahoma Highway Patrol
Shortly before midnight on Friday, January 29, 1971, a burglary in progress was broadcast to officers in the Tonkawa area of Kay County. Trooper Smith, headed to the call. Five miles east of Tonkawa on Highway 60, Trooper Smith was involved in a head-on collision with a car traveling in the opposite direction. The other driver, a teenager, was also killed in the accident. Both cars came to rest in a roadside ditch north of the highway. The patrol car rolled once, coming to a stop on its top. Both drivers were pinned in the wreckage. Trooper Larry Bruce Smith was the seventh Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper to lose his life in performance of his sworn duties. Trooper Smith was survived by his wife and two sons.
Odos Neal Smith, Deputy Sheriff
Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office
On the evening of Sunday, February 3, 1963, a McLoud constable arrested Thomas Arthur Rittenhouse who had been hitchhiking carrying a 30-30 Winchester rifle. When the constable learned Rittenhouse was AWOL from an Air Force Base in Kansas, he arrested him. The constable contacted Deputy Smith at his home to assist him in transporting Rittenhouse to the County Jail.
Shortly after 10 P.M. the constable was driving to Shawnee with the deputy and prisoner in the back seat. Both officers had not noticed a .25 automatic pistol Rittenhouse was carrying in a shoulder holster and his hands were handcuffed in front of him. One mile east of Dale on Highway 270, Rittenhouse drew the weapon and shot Deputy Smith four times in the chest, leg and shoulders. The constable then wrecked the vehicle and the suspect jumped out.
The wounded deputy got out of the wrecked police car and tried to pursue the suspect but collapsed in the roadway. A passing vehicle struck the deputy in the highway and dragged his body 30 feet before stopping. Rittenhouse surrendered to the constable at the scene. Deputy Sheriff Smith was survived by his wife.
Riley H. Smith, Deputy Sheriff
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
On Saturday, June 10, 1911, Deputy Smith had been over in Okfuskee County and was on his way back to Seminole when he was informed of a disturbance at a black ball game three miles northeast of Little. Smith went to where the bunch had been drinking at the ball game and one man flaunted a whiskey bottle in front of Smith. Smith reached for the bottle and the man made a move like he was going to draw his gun. Smith drew his weapon and fired killing the man. The dead man’s brother, Prince Carolina, grabbed Smith and another man, Everett Lincoln, shot Deputy Smith in the back killing him. Prince Carolina was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi in September of 1911. Everett Lincoln was never prosecuted for Smith’s murder. Deputy Riley H. Smith was survived by his wife and two daughters.
Steve R Smith, Trooper
Oklahoma Highway Patrol
About 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 25, 1999, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office was notified that a woman had been shot at Ballard Cemetery north of Bernice. Officers found the woman’s body. It was that of Geraldine Davis who had been shot in the head. Shortly afterwards a pickup pulled into the cemetery. The male driver got out and walked to a table in the cemetery. The man, Calton Davis, 52, was the husband of the dead woman and was armed with a .357 Magnum handgun. Trooper Smith was called to negotiate with the man. Along with Sheriff Jim Earp, Trooper Smith was able to talk Davis into laying the gun on the table. After over an hour of negotiations, at about 9:20 p.m., the officers felt they were not making any progress. They tried to distract Davis and get to the gun before he did. Davis was able to grab the gun just as the two officers got to him. During the struggle Trooper Smith was wounded in the neck and Sheriff Earp was grazed in the arm before Davis turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.
Trooper Smith’s wound left him a quadriplegic, paralyzed below the neck. Smith was forced to take a medical retirement in December 2000.
Trooper Smith, 43, died February 9, 2006, from his injuries. He was survived by his son Blake and his daughter Stephanie.
U.S. Marshals
On Friday, November 4, 1892, Deputy Marshals Tom Smith, Dave Booker and another deputy named Tucker took a northbound train from Gainsville, Texas into the Chickasaw Nation of the Indian Territory to perform certain duties assigned to them. Sometime during the trip north, and when the train was nearing Thackerville, just inside Indian Territory, the deputies had gone into the “Jim Crow” passenger car normally reserved for blacks. One of the blacks took offense and asked what whites were doing in their car. Deputy Smith replied that whites could go where they wanted and got up to leave the car. The black man pulled a pistol and shot Deputy Smith through the heart, killing him instantly. Deputies Booker and Tucker both pulled their weapons and killed the black man. The body of Deputy Smith was returned to his home in Taylor, Texas. Deputy Smith was survived by his wife and five sons.
Of their fives sons, four would enter public service. William would become a Houston policeman. Tom C. Junior would become a Deputy Sheriff for Harris County. Megathan would be killed in the line of duty as a Houston fireman. The eldest son, Frank S. Smith joined the Houston Police Department and then the Dallas Police Department. He later became an agent for the FBI and was credited with solving the Osage Hills murders in northeastern Oklahoma in the mid-1920’s. He was the only surviving lawman to escape the carnage of the Kansas City Massacre in 1933 unharmed. Frank Smith later served as the Chief of the Oklahoma City Police Department from 1939-1943. Deputy Smith’s father, Thomas Jefferson Smith, was also a lawman.
Warren N. Smith, City Marshal
City of Bokchito
On the evening of Tuesday, November 13, 1951, Smith was in Easter’s Café having dinner when Thomas Melvin Kernes, 40, walked in with a 12-guage shotgun. Kernes, carrying a grudge over a previous arrest by the marshal, fired one time, striking Smith with over 50 pellets in the lower right side and blowing away part of the officer’s holster. Kernes was arrested at his home seven miles northeast of Bokchito the next day. Marshal Smith died from his wounds five days later on November 18th. Kernes was convicted of the marshal’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Kelley L. Smythe, Officer
Tulsa Police Department
Less than two weeks old, the Tulsa Police Department’s helicopter program suffered its first tragedy on Friday, March 26, 1982. Pilot Chance Whiteman, 35 and a 5 year veteran of the police department, radioed that he and Officer Kelley Smythe, also a 5 year veteran of the department, would be en route to assist in a high speed chase. That was the last transmission heard from the two officers. A deputy sheriff found the crash site about 1:30 a.m. Both officers died in the crash. The helicopter had been leased from the Oklahoma City Police Department and was found to have a current (FAA) air worthiness certificate, current annual inspection and all periodic maintenance. Whiteman was one of two helicopter pilots and had over 1,500 hours of flight time. He had flown helicopters for the Army in Vietnam and had survived being shot down twice. He still flew for the Oklahoma National Guard. Since it was a new program, the pilots were taking ground officers up to familiarize and orient them with the capabilities. Smythe was taking the place of the regular observer that night and was not assigned to the helicopter unit. Kelley Smythe was a life-long Tulsa resident and a graduate of Hale High School. He was buried in the Floral Haven Cemetery.
James D Snider, Deputy Sheriff
Osage County Sheriff's Office
The evening of Sunday, February 13, 1921, Deputy Snider was called to the Midland Café in Avant in reference to a free for all fight. As Deputy Snider entered the café he was struck in the right temple by a heavy metal flashlight reportedly thrown by an intoxicated C. C. Moberly. Deputy Snider arrested Moberly and put him in the custody of some citizens outside the cafe. He and Constable George Bolt then were able to quite the other customers inside of the café. When they returned outside they found the men holding Moberly had let him go home. As the two officers walked to Moberly’s house Deputy Snider commented on the blow to his head stating it was “quite a jolt”. When the officers arrived at the house Deputy Snider waited out side the fence while Constable Bolt was sent in to bring Moberly out. When Bolt returned with Moberly he found the 45 year old deputy unconscious. He died about ten minutes later. It was determined that Deputy Snider had suffered a brain concussion from the blow by the flashlight. Moberly was charged with murder.
Sam Sorrels, Posseman
U.S. Marshals
Sam Sorrels worked for a twenty-two year old Deputy United States Marshal Ralph Scargill. On Friday, January 2, 1903, both lawmen were riding on the Fort Smith and Western Railway train when they were told by a passenger about two suspicious men riding in one of the boxcars. The passenger thought one of the men was wanted. As the train slowed for a stop in Spiro, I.T., the lawmen worked their way back to check the boxcars. Unknown to Sorrels and Scargill one of the men was Sam Morley, a very dangerous man. Morley was wanted for murder, assault and escape in Oklahoma Territory. As the train came to a stop, Sorrels and Scargill jumped down from the passenger car and walked back to the boxcar. As they approached the boxcars they saw two men jump down from one of the cars. Scargill and Sorrels identified themselves as lawmen and told the two men to throw up their hands. Morley and the other suspect drew their handguns and started firing at the lawmen. Scargill and Sorrels returned fire. They were only standing about four or five feet from each other. As they fired, they began backing away from each other. As they back away, Morley was shot through the right side of his chest and fell to the ground. Sorrels was then shot in the chest. He was able to fire two more shots before being killed by another shot to the chest. The second suspect had been wounded but kept firing, hitting Scargill in both legs causing him to slump to the ground. Scargill kept firing but his gun was now empty. The second man walked up to Scargill and took his gun, then walked over to Sorrels and took his gun. He told the passengers that had been watching the shootout to back up or he would start killing them. He turned and walked into the woods toward the Poteau River and disappeared. A lengthy search was conducted but he eluded authorities.
Scargill slowly recovered from his wounds. Sam Sorrels was survived by his wife and two small children. A $500 reward for Morley was split between Scargill and Sorrels’ widow.
Jess H. Sosbee, Patrolman
Oklahoma City Police Department
About 2 A.M. on Friday, December 1, 1922, Sosbee and his partner, Clarence O. Hurt, were driving through the 400 block of East Grand (now Sheridan) in Oklahoma City when they were shot at from ambush. Sosbee, 37, was hit in the back. He died the next day. Tim Smith and Herb Parker were arrested and tried for the crime. Smith was sentenced to five years, Parker received seven years. They stated they just “wanted to kill an officer.” When taken from the city jail to the State Prison, both men were dressed as women to keep them from being recognized and lynched. Hurt would later become assistant chief for the Oklahoma City Police Department, join the FBI and become one of the three agents who shot John Dillinger in 1934. After his retirement from the FBI, Hurt was elected as Sheriff of Pittsburg County.
Jerry Spann (Span), Chief of Police
Shawnee Police Department
Jerry Spann served as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Oklahoma Territory. After statehood, he was appointed as Assistant Chief of Police in Shawnee under Chief C.C. Hawk. Spann succeeded Hawk as Chief of Police in Shawnee.
In 1918, Chief Spann had arrested a man and was taking him to jail when the man began fighting with Spann. During the fight, Spann suffered a head injury. The injury developed into cancer. Spann sought treatment, unsuccessfully, as far away as the Mayo Clinic. Chief Spann died as a result of the cancer on March 26, 1920.
Constantine Gus Spanos,
Officer
Tulsa Police Department
On Thursday, April 22, 1993, Officer “Gus” Spanos stopped a car on a routine traffic stop. When a backup officer came by minutes later, he found Officer Spanos lying on the ground next to his patrol car, shot in the head. The officer died within the hour. It was believed that the car Officer Spanos stopped was filled with cocaine. Anthony Lyn Kimbrough was arrested a few days later. Kimbrough was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
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.
Sadly, Captain Homer Spaulding, who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave his all to protect his community, lays forgotten in an unmarked grave in Muskogee’s Green Hill Cemetery.
Richard “Dick” Speed, Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
Richard Speed became a constable in Chautauqua County Kansas, on the northern border of Indian Territory and held that position for four years. He then became a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the Oklahoma Territory and was one of three officers fatally wounded during the battle of Ingalls with the Dalton/Doolin gang on September 1, 1893.
On the morning of Friday, September 1, 1893, a small group of Deputy U.S. Marshals entered the small town of Ingalls, Oklahoma Territory where it was reported that several members of the Doolin gang were hold up. The posse consisting of thirteen marshals including John W. Hixon, Dick Speed, Henry Keller, George Cox, M.A. Iauson, H.A. “Hi” Thomson, and two brothers, Thomas J. & Hamilton B. Hueston, were quickly met with heavy resistance from members of the Doolin gang. George “Bitter Creek” Newcomb drew up his Winchester just as Deputy Marshal Speed threw up his rifle and fired. Speed’s bullet shattered the magazine on Newcomb’s Winchester driving part of it into his leg. “Bitter Creek’s” first shot went wild and he was unable to get off a second shot with the damaged gun. Deputy Speed stepped up and took aim for a final shot at “Bitter Creek.” In the meantime, “Arkansas Tom” heard the shots, ran to his second floor hotel room window in time to see Deputy Speed take aim at Newcomb. “Arkansas Tom” shot Speed, hitting him first in the shoulder and then killing him instantly with a second shot. The next officer to be fatally wounded was Thomas Hueston who had also been shot twice by “Arkansas Tom” Jones. The final marshal to be dispatched was Lafayette Shadley who received fatal wounds, thus ending the killing at the Battle of Ingalls.
William “Bill” Spivey, Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
William Spivey worked for Deputy U.S. Marshal William Irvin in the Indian Territory. Part of their area involved the southern part of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations that bordered Texas.
James Moore, a twenty-eight year old native of Johnson County, Tennessee and James C. Hunton had stolen several horses from a man named Cox in Washington County, Texas. Civilians had tracked the horse thieves from Washington County north into the Indian Territory. After crossing the Red River they notified Irwin of the chase and requested he assist. Irwin and Spivey joined the hunt for the horse thieves, searching the area just north of the Red River.
On Thursday, August 6, 1874, the two lawmen found their prey and attempted an arrest. Both Moore and Hunton resisted arrest and both sides commenced firing. During the shootout Spivey was shot in the head, dying instantly and Irvin was also wounded, although not seriously. Both Moore and Hunton were able to make their escape. Once notified a large search was begun for the killers.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Kidder Kidd and his posse, L.P. Isbell and R.T. Brewer, along with guard Nelson Foreman tracked Moore to Caddo Creek in the Chickasaw Nation, arresting him on September 15th. Next they traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas where they located John C. Hunton and placed him under arrest. Both prisoners were then taken to Ft. Smith and confirmed in the federal jail to await trial. On February 9, 1875, while awaiting trial, Hunton was able to escape. In April the U.S. marshal was notified that citizens had shot and killed Hunton during a chase, after he had stolen a horse.
Judge Isaac C. Parker held trial for James Moore on May 25, 1875. The jury returned with a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder and the judge quickly sentenced Moore to be hanged. On September 3, 1875 the sentence was carried out with James Moore being hung on the courthouse scaffold.
Jerome Thurman Spybuck,
Sergeant
Tulsa Police Department
Shortly after noon on Friday, April 2, 1971, nine local and federal officers conducted a drug raid on the residence of Truan Trowbridge. One of those officers was Sergeant Spybuck. Although officers had reason to suspect weapons were in the Trowbridge house, the basis for ATFU agents joining in the raid, none of the nine officers carried shotguns. The residents refused to open the door and agents proceeded to break it down. As they entered, Trowbridge opened fire on the officers then ran out the back door. As he was running toward the garage, he turned and saw Spybuck coming at him from the front of the lot. Trowbridge began firing at Spybuck. Spybuck returned fire wounding Trowbridge before falling. Trowbridge’s wife, Glenda Marlene, and Donald Odell Birdwell were both arrested as material witnesses. A large quantity of drugs, stolen property and illegal blasting caps were seized in the raid.
Spybuck and Trowbridge were taken to St. Francis Hospital where Spybuck died on the operating table about 2 P.M. Trowbridge survived his wounds, was charged with the officer’s murder, was convicted and sent to prison. Trowbridge was later killed by another inmate. Sergeant Spybuck was survived by his wife and two daughters.
Charles W. Stamper, Deputy Sheriff
Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office
On Sunday, October 9, 1910, in the village of Dawson, a small coal mining station north of Tulsa, a group of miners were having a dice game in a tent when a confrontation erupted. Some of the upset miners started shooting at each other. When the shooting had spilled over into the community sending citizens for cover, a messenger was sent to summon Deputy Sheriff Stamper who lived in Dawson. Stamper’s neighbor, Jack Leighton, came to assist. As Deputy Stamper dismounted and walked around behind his horse, a miner named Frank Henson fired his revolver, shooting Stamper in the face. When Stamper went to his knees, Henson fired again. Returning fire, Deputy Stamper was able to shoot Henson in the leg and thigh. Although morally wounded, Stamper continued to fight back with citizens of Dawson assisting. Deputy Stamper was able to ride his horse to his residence where his wife sent for the doctor. When Sheriff Newblock arrived in Dawson, the citizens had apprehended four individuals; a fifth had fled. The Sheriff started in pursuit of the fifth suspect, catching up to him in Margo. Deputy Stamper died that day from his wounds after having surgery at the Tulsa Hospital. Deputy Stamper’s death led to the first, and last, legal hanging ever carried out by a Tulsa County Sheriff. After deliberating for only 22 minutes, a jury found Frank Henson, 22-years old, guilty of the murder of Deputy Stamper and sentenced him to hang. The sentence was carried out in front of a crowd of approximately 500 people on March 31, 1911. No one ever learned if the suspect’s name was really Frank Henson. He was tried, convicted and hung as Frank Henson, but a letter he wrote, found after his death, was signed Amos Bell. Deputy Sheriff Charles Stamper, 23, was survived by his wife, Emma, and their three children.
William Tener Starmer, Posseman, Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
On the morning of Saturday, May 2, 1891, William Starmer was leading a posse chasing after two men who had stolen some horses. Little did Starmer know that the horse thieves he was pursuing were Bob and Emmett Dalton. The posse chased the two men into a canyon near Twin Mounds in eastern Payne County. As the posse dismounted the Daltons ambushed them. Starmer was killed. His body showed three bullet holes in his chest, all close enough that a man’s hand would cover them. When one of the other marshals saw the bullet wounds in Starmer’s chest, even before the suspects could be identified, he is said to have remarked that only Bob Dalton could shoot like that. The Daltons escaped until they were killed during a bank robbery attempt in Coffeyville, Kansas, in October of 1892.
C.C. Starr, City Marshal
City of Braggs
When Mose Miller was released from prison a long standing feud between the Miller and Starr families was rekindled. Mose Miller was described as “a mad killer” and “the most desperate and daring outlaw of Indian Territory” in newspaper accounts. C.C. Starr had been appointed as the city marshal of Braggs. After Mose Miller was killed September 30, 1916, in Vian a friend and accomplice of his, Oce Dazzler, also a known killer, heard of Miller’s death and believed it was due to the feud with Starr. He was out to get revenge. Later that evening he entered a bar in Braggs and started causing a commotion. Soon Marshal Starr and Constable J. W. Marlow were summoned. As Starr and Marlow entered the bar, Dazzler began firing. Marshal Starr was hit three times and he fell to the ground, dead. Marlow was wounded, but able to return fire and shoot and kill Dazzler.
George Colbert “Carl” Starr, Deputy Sheriff
Rogers County Sheriff’s Office
On Friday, September 20, 1912, Rogers County Sheriff W.E. Sanders and Deputy Starr were checking for bootleggers around the area just north of Collinsville. About 6:40 P.M. they spotted a wagon with three men in it. They stopped the wagon. Sanders went to the front of the wagon and Starr went to the rear. After being ordered to get down off the wagon, one of the bootleggers, as he was getting down, pulled a gun and fired at Starr. Deputy Starr immediately went down, fatally wounded through the heart. Sanders shifted his focus from the man he was holding at gunpoint to the man who was shooting at Starr. Both men began shooting and Sanders was wounded twice in the arm. Two of the three men on the wagon were able to escape, but Sanders was able to hold one man in custody. Sanders returned to Collinsville with the body of Starr and his prisoner, John Ettor. A posse was formed and they pursued the other two men, who were identified as Jack Triplett and the driver, named Guinn. They were captured the following day. Triplett and Ettor were found guilty and given life sentences.
Gerald Martin “Jerry”
St. Clair, Patrolman
Tulsa Police Department
On Friday, August 30, 1946, Officer St. Clair and Officer Elmer Strotman, were in pursuit of a grocery store robber. Shots were being fired back and forth from one car to the other. The officers were following about 25 feet behind the fleeing suspect. The fugitive, without looking back, reached over his shoulder and fired at the patrol car. The bullet penetrated the windshield and hit Officer St. Clair in the forehead. Officer Strotman managed to guide the patrol car to a safe stop. Officer Harold Harding was also wounded in the leg as he was riding his police motorcycle in the pursuit. Officer Harding recovered from his wounds, but Officer St. Clair died on September 2, 1946.
Carl Austin DeWolf was arrested about 2 months later and charged with Officer St. Clair’s murder. DeWolf was in possession of the .45 that killed Officer St. Clair. Another suspect, identified as Victor Lloyd Everhart, was arrested first but escaped. Everhart kidnapped a cab driver and his wife and forced them to drive to Chouteau. The cab was stopped by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. During the ensuing gun battle, the cab driver was wounded and Everhart was killed. DeWolf claimed that he got the gun from Everhart. He claimed his innocence until November 17 1953, the day he was executed for killing Officer St. Clair.
Officer Elmer Strotman retired from the Tulsa Police Department in 1956 after serving for 24 years. In 1992 he was honored in the first Law Enforcement Appreciation Day parade in Oklahoma City as the oldest retired law enforcement officer in Oklahoma. He died in a nursing home in Tulsa on July 16, 1996, at the age of 96.
William L. Stewart Jr., Lake Ranger
Oklahoma City Police Department
On the evening of Friday, May 17, 1974, on a tip from a caller shortly after 5 P.M., police officers were dispatched to the Lake Hefner area in search of Lake Ranger Stewart. The caller stated he had seen an empty lake ranger’s boat adrift and empty. The responding police officer’s found the boat grounded on the northeastern shore with the engine still running. Ranger Stewart had radioed in just before 5 P.M., but was missing now. Winds were gusting over 40 miles per hour and waves were over a foot high at the time. Officer’s located the ranger’s gun, gun belt, boots and hat on an island about half a mile away from the beached boat. A force of twenty Rangers, OCPD officers, and firemen searched all night long, aided by two National Guard helicopters.
Fire department divers began dragging the lake and, about 11 A.M. the next day, the found the body of Ranger Stewart about 50 yards north of the island. Investigating officers hypothesized that the Ranger had been making a routine check of the island when the winds set his boat adrift. The boat’s rope was still attached where he had tied it. Stewart apparently stripped off his boots, hat and gun belt, tried to swim out and retrieve the boat but drowned in the churning waters. Stewart, 26, a lake ranger for about one year, was survived by his wife and one son.
William Ross Stewart,
Agent
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control
About 10 P.M. on the evening of Wednesday, May 8, 1985, Agent Stewart, along with OBNDD Agent Jim Dempewolf and Woodward Police Officer Mark Chumley, was conducting an undercover drug investigation in Woodward. The officers were finishing an undercover purchase of amphetamines from Marshall Ellis outside of a Long John Silver’s Restaurant. Ellis opened fire on the officers with a 12-guage shotgun when they identified themselves as police officers. Agent Stewart was killed and Officer Chumley was wounded. Ellis’s girlfriend, who was sitting the car with him at the time, received a minor wound from the officer’s return fire. Within a couple of hours Ellis was arrested a few blocks from the crime scene. Ellis was charged with murder, two counts of Shooting with Intent to Kill, and Distributing a Controlled Dangerous Substance.
Stewart had previously been a Deputy Sheriff in Mendocino County, California where he earned the reputation as “the most dangerous narc in America.” In 1985 he became the head of the Enid office of the OBNDD. He was a 3 ½ year veteran of the OBNDD. Agent Stewart was survived by his wife and three daughters.
E. A. “Ed” Stokley, Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
Deputy Stokley was twenty-seven years old and lived with his father in Marietta. He had worked for Deputy U.S. Marshal Heck Thomas for two years as a posse receiving some of the best training he could have received. In June 1887, partially due to the recommendation of Thomas, John Carroll, the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Arkansas, had appointed Stokley a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Everything appeared to be going well with Stokley’s life. He had a full appointment as a Deputy and was scheduled to be married to Josie Peterman of Gainesville, Texas, on January 25, 1888.
On December 2, 1887, Deputy U.S. Marshals Heck Thomas and Ed Stokley had approximately forty prisoners in their charge and were transporting them to Ft. Smith when they received information that Will Towerly had just arrived at his father’s home near Atoka. Every Deputy U.S. Marshal in the Indian Territory had been put on alert to watch for and apprehend Will Towerly, who was charged with the murder of Deputy U.S. Marshal Frank Dalton. Both Thomas and Stokley carried posse and guards with them and after talking the situation over, decided that Thomas and some of their men would remain in camp with the prisoners while Stokley, along with William Moody, James Wallace and James McAlester, would check out the Towerly house.
The following morning around 7:00 a.m., the lawmen surrounded the Towerly home with Wallace and McAlester covering the rear of the house and Stokley and Moody at the front. Towerly must have seen the lawmen approach, for he suddenly appeared at the front door and opened fire. He missed with his first shots and Stokley and Moody both opened fire on Towerly. He was hit in the right shoulder and the leg knocking him to the ground. Stokley was running toward the downed man when Towerly rose up and fired two rounds with his left hand, both striking Stokley, once in the chest and once in the groin. Stokley dropped and died within minutes. Moody continued to fire at Towerly as his parents and sister tried to pull him back in the house. Moody pushed them off and fired through a window at Towerly, striking him several times. Towerly died from the eight bullets that pierced his body about twelve hours later.
Deputy Stokley’s body was returned to his father’s home at Marietta.
Chester W. Stone, Agent
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
Chester W. Stone was a native of Golden City, Missouri. He served over 25 years as a State Examiner and Inspector for the School Land Audit Department before joining the OSBI. Stone was widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable oil field crime investigators in the state. On Wednesday, March 11, 1981, Stone responded to a call for assistance from Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office. Agent Stone after locating the suspect the deputies were looking for and then suffered a fatal heart attack. Before collapsing, however, he was able to handcuff the suspect to the steering wheel of his car to prevent the suspect’s escape. Kingfisher County Coy Barker transported the 66-year-old agent to El Reno hospital where he died at 2:30 p.m.
Kenneth Dean Strang, Second Lieutenant
Oklahoma Highway Patrol
When Kenneth Strang joined the OHP in 1966, he became a second-generation trooper following in his father, Wally’s footsteps. Shortly before 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, 1980, Strang was going home after working a ten-hour shift, traveling north of Okmulgee on Highway 75. On most other nights, Strang would have been headed home by 2:00 a.m. But winter storms often meant long hours and extra duty for troop supervisors such as Strang. Since 7:00 p.m. Friday, Strang had been working a deluge of traffic accidents, some minor, some more serious. At 5:55 a.m. that Saturday, Strang radioed Tulsa Highway Patrol headquarters, as he had hundreds of times in his career, to run a check on an abandoned vehicle he passed as he headed home. Seven minutes later, Strang was dead. His patrol car slid out of control on the slick icy highway and struck a guardrail slamming into a bridge abutment head-on. Passing motorists tried to pull him from the wreckage, but failed. Strang was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
On November 7, 1997, citizens of Okmulgee dedicated a memorial to Lt. Strang at the bridge where his fatal accident occurred.
Max G. Straub, Deputy Sheriff
Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office
Charles Stricker, Chief
Commerce Police Department
About 10 P.M. on Wednesday October 22, 1919, Chief Stricker was patrolling Main Street when he noticed a car fitting the description of a recently stolen car from Miami coming down the street. Chief Stricker stepped to the street and attempted to halt the car. Instead the car sped up. Chief Stricker fired at the wheels of the car as it passed him. The driver of the car then fired at the Chief, striking him once in the chest near the heart and once in the right leg. Chief Stricker fell to the street and died. Earl Blanchard was later convicted of the Chief’s murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Charles H. Strickland, Territorial Sheriff
Chickasaw Nation
When Indian Territory was opened to the white settlement, Charles Strickland became the first elected Sheriff of the Chickasaw Nation. On Tuesday, March 19, 1895, Strickland and Bill Lewis were riding together in a buggy near Byrd’s Mill, close to present day Pauls Valley. It has been reported that Bill Lewis killed Sheriff Strickland over an old grudge. After he killed Strickland, he took his body to the home of Strickland’s daughter, Elizabeth, and dumped it over her fence. Judge Billy Perry issued a writ of arrest for Bill Lewis. The Indians came from all over for Strickland’s funeral, playing drums and dancing the dance of the dead all night. Strickland was buried in Stonewall Cemetery near the current town of Frisco.
Houston F. “Pappy” Summers, Trooper
Oklahoma Highway
Patrol
On Friday morning, May 26, 1978, the
nation wide search for two escaped convicts, Claude Eugene Dennis, 35, and
Michael Charles Lancaster, 25, centered around Lake Texhoma. The pair had
escaped from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester thirty-four days
earlier. Since then the pair had engaged in a crime spree that covered 1,000
miles from Oklahoma to Alabama and included seven murders. They also had wounded
a police officer in Alabama. Highway Patrol (OHP) Troopers were sent from all
over Oklahoma to assist in the search.
That morning a farmer in
Kenefic reported that two heavily armed men tied him up and stole his pickup
truck. The description of the pickup was broadcast to all units in the area.
OHP Troopers Houston F.
“Pappy” Summers, 62, and Billy Gene Young, 50, located the pickup on Highway 48
eight miles north of Durant and pursued it north to near Kenefic. The pickup
finally pulled over to the side of the road. As the troopers patrol unit came to
a stop behind the pickup the two convicts opened fire on them. Both Trooper
Summers and Young were killed.
The convicts then traveled
east on Highway 22 into Caddo with their location being broadcast by an OHP
airplane that was following them overhead. Once in Caddo the pickup pulled into
a driveway on Court Street, the two convicts jumped out and hid behind some
nearby shrubbery. Almost immediately, an unmarked OHP unit pulled up in front of
the driveway driven by Lt. Hoyt Hughes with his partner, Lt. Pat Grimes, 36. The
convicts opened fire on the troopers immediately, killing Trooper Grimes.
Trooper Hughes was also wounded but after empting his pistol retrieved a
semi-automatic rifle from his dead partners lap and emptied it at the convicts,
killing Lancaster. Other troopers soon arrived and in the continuing shootout
killed Dennis. Trooper Summers was preparing to retire after 32 years when he
was killed.
Robert Osborne “Bob” Sumter, Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
On Wednesday, August 9, 1933, Deputy Sumter left his home in Ada and drove to Coalgate stopping at the Mayer Meat Market to pick up his friend Paul Mayer to ride along while he served some papers. The two men rode south on Highway 75 toward Lehigh, four miles south of Coalgate. They stopped and asked for directions to Frank Kosack’s place. Sumter drove his car to within a half mile of the Kosack home and told Mayer to wait in the car. Around 3:00 p.m. Sumter set out on foot up a small trail. Mayer waited an hour and then became concerned. He went looking for the lawman. Mayer came upon a working still and the body of Deputy Sumter, who was lying face down in a twisted position. Mayer ran back to the car and drove the deputy’s car into Lehigh where he called the Sheriff, asking that officers and an ambulance be sent to the scene.
Sheriff
Clark and several deputies responded, as did the county attorney and Justice of
the Peace, E. Pritchard. When the lawmen examined Sumter they noticed that his
gun was missing. They knew he was right handed and also noticed that he was
clutching a smoking pipe in his right hand. Sumter had been shot at least six
times with shotgun wounds to his chest, back, abdomen, face, neck and top of the
head. Mayer had returned and informed the officers that he had seen
nineteen-year-old John Cisco running in the area shortly before he had found
Sumter’s body. Cisco was immediately picked up for questioning. He quickly
implicated his brother Tom Cisco, as well as Barnard Blue, John Gruber, Will
Smith and Oscar Lovingood. He also stated that when Sumter approached the still
they all ran except Lovingood. Cisco also stated Lovingood had a shotgun with
him when he was last seen.
Deputy Sumter was survived by his wife, Lena, a
daughter, Cleo, and a son, Robert O. Jr.
Jesse “Jess” Sunday,
Sheriff
Saline District, Cherokee Nation
Jess Sunday was just completing a term as Sheriff of Saline District and his half brother, Dave Ridge, had been elected to take his place. About noon on Sunday, September 20, 1897, Sheriff-Elect Dave Ridge was on his way to the Baggett store to pick up some items his wife had sent him for. Ridge ran into some friends and had several drinks with them. Realizing that it was late, about 6:00 p.m., and he still needed to get the items from the store, Ridge headed over to the Baggett store which was closed. Desperate to get the items for his wife, he began banging on the door to the store. Tom Baggett and his family lived above the store. Baggett leaned out of the window above the store and told Ridge to leave because he was drunk. Baggett had closed the store early that day due to the rowdy drinking of several men and a warning there might be trouble later. As Ridge and Baggett argued over the closed store, a shot came from across the street hitting Baggett and killing him. Ridge stayed around with a gathering crowd to help Mrs. Baggett and her four daughters.
About an hour later, two witnesses, one of whom was Jesse Sunday’s son, Andy, and Dave Ridge met two men on a trail about 200 yards away from the shooting scene. The two men were Sampson Rogers and Wilson Towery. Ridge confronted Rogers with the fact that he had seen him fire the shot that killed Baggett. Rogers, enraged, then hit Ridge over the head with a whiskey bottle. Andy Sunday then stepped out and got the men to leave his uncle alone. Dave Ridge died from his head injuries that night.
Sheriff Jesse Sunday was then ten miles east of Saline guarding some prisoners when the killings occurred. Notified of the murders, he rode to Saline and began investigating. He deputized several men including Wilson Towery and Cooie Bolin, both of whom had witnessed the Ridge murder. Sunday and Bolin went to the nearby home of Jim Teehee to see if anyone there had witnessed anything. John Colvard and Martin Rowe were sitting on the porch, Colvard with a rifle across his lap. Sunday took the rifle away from Colvard without resistance, talked with the men and was told they knew nothing of the killings.
Bolin and Sunday walked back to their horses when Rowe opened fire on them hitting Sunday. Sunday dropped Colvard’s confiscated rifle, Bolin picked it up and began firing at the fleeing Martin Rowe while the wounded Sheriff Sunday was trying to catch his horse.
Andy Sunday found his wounded father by a tree near the Teehee home the next morning. He took him to the Teehee home where the sheriff died that night. Jesse Sunday was survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters.
Martin Rowe surrendered himself a month later. He was arrested, tried and convicted of Sunday’s murder. Originally sentenced to death, the sentence was later commuted to ten years in prison at Tahlequah. Three months later Rowe escaped and went to west Texas, later joining the Army. While in the Army all charges were dropped and he came out of the Army a free man.
Jeff Surratt, Sheriff
San Bois County, Choctaw Nation
On December 3, 1900, Sheriff Jeff Surratt of San Bois County in the Choctaw Nation found one of his deputies, N.M. Woolridge, a half-breed Choctaw, drunk. While Surratt was trying to calm his deputy, Woolridge drew his gun and shot the sheriff through both lungs. Surratt died two days later and Woolridge was charged with murder.
Oliver Swann, Deputy City Marshal
City of Wilburton
At 11 p.m. on Monday, September 23, 1907, Deputy City Marshal Swann arrested a black man name W.A. Johnson near the Wilburton Depot for a trivial offense. Johnson indicated that he might resist arrest and Swann drew his gun. Johnson asked Swann if he would shoot him over a $3 unpaid fine and told him if he would put the gun away he would go peacefully. Swann lowered his gun and Johnson drew a weapon firing at Swann three times. Two of the three shots struck Swann in the head and neck, killing him. Johnson then stole a horse and escaped. The town’s folks offered a $1,000 reward to which the Governor added another $300 for the capture of Johnson. He eluded officers until June of 1908 when he was spotted walking along the Rock Island tracks at the edge of town dressed in women’s clothing. Sheriff Mickle recognized Johnson and gave the alarm. Johnson threw off the female attire, drew a rifle and began shooting at Mickle. Mickle returned fire but Johnson ran toward the mountains. Within ten minutes every man who could secure arms joined the manhunt. Upon reaching Brandy Creek, Johnson came upon two fishermen who he killed thinking they were part of the posse. A four man posse headed by Ben Nowlin, a farmer, found Johnson and in the fight that followed Johnson was killed.
Marion A. Sweeten, Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals
Marion A. Sweeten, was appointed a Deputy U.S. Marshal of the Western District of Arkansas in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and lived in Oklahoma with his wife, Harriet and son, John Alexander Sweeten born in 1866. They farmed a piece of land in what is now Haskell County and had another couple living with them, the Wilburn’s. Wilburn had married a niece of Sweeten and worked the land with the Sweetens. Wilburn was also Sweeten’s posse.
On Monday evening, May 3, 1886, Wilburn was beating his wife when Marion Sweeten interfered. Wilburn grabbed a rifle and shot Sweeten in the chest, killing him instantly. John Sweeten, now twenty years old, heard the shooting and started to run from the area when Wilburn shot at him. The shot missed and John kept running stopping at a neighbor’s house three miles away. The following morning, John returned, along with several other men. No one was in the house when they arrived and they searched the surrounding area. They found Marion Sweeten’s body at the bottom of the well from drag marks on the ground. They were able to raise the body out of the well and noticed there were scuffmarks on the dead man’s face indicating he had been dragged.
There was no sign of Harriet Sweeten and the group started a search in the area, finding her dead body concealed under brush two hundred yards from the house. Wilburn and his wife had fled; taking their personal belongings with them. John noted two horses, as well as two rifles and Sweeten’s handgun were missing. The nearest deputy U.S. marshal was notified and arrived on the scene, examining the bodies as well as the house for any evidence as well as any trace of the Wilburn’s.
No record was ever found indicating if Wilburn was ever arrested. John Sweeten continued to live in the Indian Territory, married and had a son who moved to Texas. John’s son, Jess Sweeten, followed his grandfather into law enforcement, serving for twenty-two years, part of that time as a county sheriff.
Marion and Harriet Sweeten were buried at Oklahoma, Indian Territory.
J.H. Swinford – City Marshal
Kiefer
The afternoon of Monday, August 16, 1909, two men dressed as cowboys arrived in Kiefer. Their actions of looking over the Kiefer State Bank aroused the suspicion of Marshal Swinford. Bank officials were notified that their bank might be robbed (burglarized) later that night. Bank cashier Palmer Wedding, a Dr. Jones and a man named R. Bailey quietly entered the bank that evening. About 10 P.M. Cashier Wedding and one of the other men went outside to look around. They noticed the two men setting on a pile of bricks in a building under construction next door. When the two men saw the other men they left the building. Marshal Swinford was notified. About 11 P.M. Swinford located the two men on a side street near the bank and drew his gun on them ordering them to surrender. One of the men stepped back into a darkened area. Cashier Wedding seeing the marshal ran to his assistance. Before Wedding reached Swinford a shot rang out from the darkened area and the Marshal fell dead with a shot to his head. Just as Wedding got to the marshal’s body he was shot in the back. Wedding was put on a train to Tulsa for treatment of his wound. The body of Marshal Swinford was taken to Sapulpa for burial.
Mark E. Switzer, Patrolman
Pawhuska Police Department
On Wednesday, January 12, 1927, Officers Mark Switzer and Dutch Mayes of the Pawhuska Police saw C.F. Edens driving down a street in Pawhuska. Suspecting that he was hauling illegal whiskey, the officers followed him until he pulled into his driveway. The officers approached his car, Mayes on the left side and Switzer on the right. “Get out Clem and let’s see what you’ve got,” Maze is reported to have said. Instead of getting out on the left side, Edens is alleged to have left the car on the ride side and upon seeing Switzer, fired. Switzer dropped to the ground mortally wounded with a bullet through the chest. He died before an ambulance could reach him.