McCurtain County Sheriff's Office, Oklahoma
End of Watch: Wednesday, August 8, 1934
Age: 41
Tour of Duty: 10 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: August 8, 1934
Weapon Used: Handgun
Suspect Info: Paroled in 1958
Deputy Whitten and Constable William Wilmoth were shot and killed while attempting to recover a runaway juvenile. The boy had gone to the home of a man who had previously made trouble with the Sheriff's Department. The man told the deputies to leave or he would shoot them. When they asked a second time for the return of the runaway, the man opened fire. Both deputies were fatally wounded. The suspect was convicted of the murders and sentenced to 99 years for each murder.
On May 13, 1936, the suspect participated in an attempted prison escape. In that incident, Prison Guard Charles Powell, of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, was shot and killed. The suspect was paroled October 14, 1958.
Deputy Whitten had been with the agency for ten years and was survived by his wife and four children.