United States Department of the Treasury - United States Secret Service, U.S. Government
End of Watch Sunday, August 7, 1927
Add to My HeroesRobert K. Webster
Operative Robert Webster, Coast Guardsman Sidney Sanderlin, and Coast Guardsman Victor Lamby, of the United States Coast Guard, were shot and killed by a suspect they had just arrested for rum running near the Bimini Islands. Operative Webster was en route to conduct a counterfeit investigation when he was killed.
The incident occurred after their Coast Guard Cutter CGC 249 stopped the suspect's boat. The killer, a 43-year-old gulf stream pirate, was called "King of the Rum Runners" during the prohibition era. He was sentenced to death and hung at the Coast Guard Station in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on August 17, 1929. A man with him was sentenced to one year after he turned states evidence. This was the only execution ever carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard, the only execution ever carried out in a seaplane hangar, and the last legal hanging in Florida.
Operative Webster, a US WWI veteran, served with the United States Secret Service for seven years. He was survived by his wife and two young children and is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.
Bio
- Age Not available
- Tour 7 years
- Badge Not available
- Military Veteran
Incident Details
- Cause Gunfire
- Location Overseas
- Weapon Gun; Unknown type
- Offender Executed in 1929
Most Recent Reflection
View all 6 ReflectionsRest easy
Mark Mottola
August 7, 2020
Recent LODD Deaths
Investigator Brian Herbert
Osage Nation Police Department, TR
EOW: April 17, 2024
Deputy Sheriff Fred Fislar
Hendricks County Sheriff's Office, IN
EOW: April 16, 2024
Police Officer Michael E. Jensen
Syracuse Police Department, NY
EOW: April 14, 2024
Lieutenant Michael Hoosock
Onondaga County Sheriff's Office, NY
EOW: April 14, 2024
Sergeant William Marty Jackson, II
Winchester Police Department, KY
EOW: April 14, 2024
Police Officer Ross Bartlett
Ceresco Police Department, NE
EOW: April 12, 2024
Chief of Police Steven Allen Singer
Lake Lafayette Police Department, MO
EOW: April 8, 2024
Correctional Sergeant Andrew John Faught
Illinois Department of Corrections, IL
EOW: April 8, 2024
Police Officer Joseph McKinney
Memphis Police Department, TN
EOW: April 12, 2024