Byars Police Department, Oklahoma
End of Watch: Sunday, June 27, 1937
Age: 68
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: June 27, 1937
Weapon Used: Shotgun
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Watchman Elijah Smith was shot and killed when he interrupted a robbery at a local hardware store.
The suspect, who was an escaped convict from a Texas prison, was apprehended by officers in Blytheville, Arkansas, a week later while trying to rob a beer truck. He was convicted of Watchman Smith's murder and sentenced to life.
On October 8, 1941, he and three inmates attempted to escape from the Oklahoma Penitentiary. His three inmate companions, Warden Jess Dunn, and Deputy Sheriff William A. Ford of the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office were shot and killed. He was convicted of Warden Dunn's murder and executed in the electric chair July 14, 1943.