Police Officer James Richard Hill
Marlow Police Department
Oklahoma
End of Watch: Monday, April 20, 1931

Biographical Info
Age: 55
Tour of Duty: 11 years
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Monday, April 20, 1931
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Executed in 1938

Officer Hill was shot and killed while he and the chief investigated three suspicious men in a vehicle. When the two officers pulled up next to them to question them the men immediately opened fire, wounding the chief and fatally wounding Officer Hill.

Two of the suspects were apprehended and sent to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. The third suspect continued a life of crime and ended up in the Folsom State Prison in California. On September 19, 1937, the suspect, along with six other inmates attempted to escape from the prison. In doing so, the inmates murdered Officer Harry Martin and Warden Clarence Larkin, both of the California Department of Corrections. The suspect was sentenced to death for those two murders and executed in the gas chamber on December 2, 1938.

Officer Hill had been with the agency for 11 years and was survived by his wife and eight children.

Related Line of Duty Deaths

Officer Harry H. Martin California Department of Corrections an..., CA EOW: Sunday, September 19, 1937 Cause of Death: Stabbed

Warden Clarence Larkin California Department of Corrections an..., CA EOW: Friday, September 24, 1937 Cause of Death: Stabbed