Burlington Police Department, Wisconsin
End of Watch Monday, February 5, 1962
Add to My HeroesAnthony G. Eilers
Sergeant Eilers was shot and killed with his own service weapon after stopping a vehicle for having a dangling license plate. Unbeknownst to Sergeant Eilers, the two brothers in the car, ages 21 and 17, had just committed a burglary at a high school two counties away. The suspects attacked him, beat him, and then shot him with his own weapon.
One of the suspects drove the patrol car to a rock quarrey 20 miles away where he planned to dump the car and the officers body into the 100-foot deep water. He had to abandon the car when he failed to crash through a gate and the car became tangled in the wire mesh. A short time later the patrol car was discovered by a passing motorist.
When the suspect took the patrol car he accidentally ran into the back of his own car knocking off the license plate. Police found the plate which led to the brothers arrest the next day.
The 21 year old suspect had recently been paroled from the Wisconsin State Reformatory after serving two years for burglary. He was convicted of Sergeant Eilers' murder and sentenced to life in prison on September 25, 1962. He was paroled in 1976. In 1982 he was returned to the Wisconsin Pentitentiary following a burglary conviction. On September 19, 1988, he escaped from McNaughton Correctional Institute. A year later he was captured in Nevada after his case aired on the TV show "America's Most Wanted". A judge ordered that his 17 year old brother was to be tried as a juvenile.
Sergeant Eilers was survived by his wife and two children. He was a sergeant who served in the Pacific Theatre with the Army Rangers during World War II. He was awarded the purple heart.
Bio
- Age 39
- Tour Not available
- Badge Not available
- Military Veteran
Incident Details
- Cause Gunfire
- Weapon Officer's handgun
- Offender Sentenced to life
Most Recent Reflection
View all 17 ReflectionsRest in peace Sergeant Eilers.
Rabbi Lewis S. Davis
June 22, 2021
Recent LODD Deaths

Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd
Wake County Sheriff's Office, NC
EOW: August 11, 2022

Corporal Chad M. Beattie
Washington County Sheriff's Office, PA
EOW: August 10, 2022

Deputy Sheriff Andrew Peery
El Paso County Sheriff's Office, CO
EOW: August 7, 2022

Special Police Officer Maurica Manyan
District of Columbia Public Library Office of Public Safety, DC
EOW: August 4, 2022

Sergeant Jèan-Harold Astree
Fairburn Police Department, GA
EOW: July 28, 2022

Sergeant Matthew Fishman
Wayne County Sheriff's Office, NC
EOW: August 2, 2022

Supervising Fire Marshal John Joseph "Jack" McCauley
New York City Fire Department - Bureau of Fire Investigation, NY
EOW: May 28, 2022

Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz
Elwood Police Department, IN
EOW: July 31, 2022

Deputy Sheriff II Jamie Lynn Reynolds
Spalding County Sheriff's Office, GA
EOW: July 31, 2022