Night Captain William C. Rooney

William C. Rooney

Captain William Rooney was killed when he was stabbed in the heart during a prison escape of four inmates. Two of the suspects were apprehended three days later and third was apprehended a day after that. When the third man, Captain Rooney's killer, was being returned to prison an angry mob of citizens took control of him and hanged him from a telephone pole. The fourth suspect remains at large.

In 1893 the second suspect was only 11-years-old when he shot and killed a man so he could steal his watch. He was sentenced to 25 years, first in boy's reformatory and five years later transferred to prison. He was paroled on September 6, 1905. The third inmate, sent to prison in 1895 for train robbery, was pardoned on September 3, 1907, by Governor Henry Bushnel.

Captain Rooney was survived by his wife. It is believed he is buried in Cortez, Colorado.