United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Government
End of Watch: Monday, March 19, 1917
Age: 42
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Incident: March 19, 1917
Weapon Used: Edged weapon; Chisel
Suspect Info: Died in prison in 1955
Correctional Officer Edgar Barr was stabbed to death at the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.
He had been involved in an altercation with an inmate earlier in the day over a pair of shoes he stole from another inmate. The inmate obtained a wood chisel, hid it in his coat, and then went and located Officer Barr. As he approached Officer Barr another argument ensued, and as Officer Barr raised his club to defend himself, the inmate stabbed him in the chest with the chisel.
The 29-year-old inmate had been in prison since 1910 serving a 25 year sentence for the murder of a man in Nome, Alaska. He was convicted of Officer Barr's murder and sentenced to death. In 1919 he received a new trial and was sentenced to life. He died at the Federal Penitentiary in LA Tuna, Texas, on June 6, 1955.
Officer Barr was survived by his wife.