Chief of Police Ben Williams

Ben Williams

Chief of Police Ben Williams was shot and killed by a notorious outlaw known as the Apache Kid.

The outlaw and his gang were also responsible for the murders of Sheriff Glenn Reynolds and Deputy William Holmes, of the Gila County Sheriff's Office, in 1889 and of Deputy Sheriff Jake Bowman of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office in 1893.

The exact date that Chief Williams was murdered in 1890 is not known.

The Apache Kid was a former sergeant of the U.S. Army's Indian Scouts who assisted General George Crook in the capture of Geronimo. He was later charged with desertion and murder following a drunken riot in which several Indians were killed. In 1888, he was sent to Alcatraz, but his conviction was overturned one year later.

Soon afterward, he and several other Indians were re-arrested and again convicted of the charges. While being transported to the Yuma Territorial Prison, they escaped, resulting in the murders of Sheriff Reynolds and Deputy Holmes. For the next five years, the Apache Kid and his fellow warriors went along the U.S.-Mexican border, committing murders and other crimes along both sides of the border.

The Apache Kid mysteriously disappeared in 1894.