Chief of Detectives Tony Lee Oliver

Tony Lee Oliver

Chief of Detectives Oliver was the last officer to be killed in raid. Chief Oliver attempted to pull back to a safer position while waiting for other officers to arrive with help when the suspects shot him in the back.

Chief Oliver had served with the Springfield Police Department for 26 years and had served as Chief of Detective for two years. He was survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons, one of who would later serve as deputy sheriff of Greene County.

Two brothers considered local petty burglars killed a total of seven Law Enforcement Officers. After they killed Town Marshal Mark Noe on June 2, 1929, a massive manhunt began for the suspects. The two suspects were located at the family farmhouse on January 2, 1932. They had come to town to visit their mother for the Christmas holiday. A raiding party of eleven officers was formed to arrest the two brothers. As the officers surrounded the farmhouse gunfire erupted and in the end six officers lay dead.

The suspects escaped, and fled to Texas. They were located there by Houston Police and as police moved in the two suspects committed suicide.