Deputy Sheriff James E. Wilson

James E. Wilson

Deputy James Wilson was shot and killed while attempting to arrest two men and two women who had robbed a bank in Elgin.

Deputy Wilson and officers from three jurisdictions had trailed two suspects to a farmhouse 11 miles outside of town. Deputy Wilson and two officers entered the house and were met by a hail of gunfire. Deputy Wilson was later found with 15 gunshot wounds. The other two deputies were wounded and the owner of the house, who was being held hostage, was shot and killed. The two male suspects, shot and wounded, were taken custody along with their two female companions.

During the previous week the same suspects shot and killed Policeman George Loper of the Pauls Valley Police Department while he was on his beat.

The two men were convicted of murder and executed in the electric chair June 10, 1937. One of the women was sentenced to five years and the other to 10 years for their participation in the bank robbery.

Deputy Wilson had been employed with the Grady County Sheriff's Office for six months, and is survived by his wife and six children.